Exercise of the week and NEWS...

Ok Ladies it's that time of week again!

Who doesn't want smokin' abdominals?! Let's get started!

Abdominal Scissors

bLie on the floor with legs extended above hips, feet pointed toward the ceiling.

bLift head, neck and shoulders off the floor and rest hands on calves.

b Squeeze shoulders down and back to stabilize upper body.
b Inhale, then exhale as you lower right leg to the mat about 6 inches from the floor. Continue to guide left leg toward chest with both hands.

b Continue to "scissor" legs, inhaling as you initiate the movement and exhaling as you move your legs.

Start off with 3 sets of 12 repetitions (6 each leg). Eventually working up to 20 reps.

*Special note, Erin at Baby Bridges had her sweet little Irelynn early Thursday morning. Go to her blog and check out the latest and greatest pics of her new addition. She is gorgeous! So happy for you guys.

Why I became a mommy...this says it all

Have a great weekend!

Jenny & Will

A Baby Is Coming...

Erin(my beaches friend/sister) was induced last night and there may be a baby any time. I just wanted to tell Erin we are thinking about her and her new family and cannot wait for baby bridges to come into this world! Will is looking forward to having a pen pal! Love you Erin.


Also just to let you know if you want to participate in the REal Life, click on the link Farm Fresh Jessica. For some reason when I linked the pic on there it did not work. Don't have a lot of time now to figure out. Will is up from his very short nap.

This is my so called REAL LIFE...

I have decided to go along with some bloggy fun. It started with Farm Fresh Jessica, I was introduced to her blog by none other than the AWESOME McMommy. So here it goes...here is my real life. You ready?

I would say my smile is my best feature although my husband had other features on his mind. Get your mind out of the gutter Lew! I also think my abs are one of my best features, I have worked really hard on them before and after my sweet little Will. But I didn't think it was appropriate to stick a pic of my abs on my blog. Maybe one day.

My engagement ring and wedding ring are my favorite piece of jewelry. I do have a couple Tiffany pieces that I love but these are what I hold near and dear to me.

Yes. This is as good as my curb appeal will get. We live in a condo and we are on the third floor. I tried to take a pic from the back but the tress got in the way to our balcony. What do I get to look at each time I arrive to my sanctuary called home, 302. But at least we are by the water, that is what matters most!

Our junk drawer has always been like this. It is nice just to have a drawer to throw everything in. Think we have enough pens in there??

Lastly this is where I blog. At our kitchen island, on my laptop. It is so much faster than my husband's computer for some reason. I love it. I am not sure what I would do without it.

So here is my real life. Hope you enjoyed your glimpse.

Oh Daddy!!!

Well it looks like my husband hacked into my bloggy blog world while I was out for two hours training. What a sneaky husband I have! Will does love to blog though. You can tell he is new at this, when he mentioned the blogs I read he did not put a link to them... too funny!

To my two loveys if you are reading this now, I love my boys, I do not know what I would do without the loves of my life. Thanks Lew for coming into my other world! Ella love you too! Had to give some lovin' to the puppy!

Today I had to train two teenage girls which was a lot of fun, had to run a lot which is not a bad thing. But it was HOT! Then this afternoon I will train two more people at my friend L's house. She is like Will's grandmother pretty much. Love her!

I wanted to do the honor and pass on the Arte y Pico award that I recieved from my bloggy friend, Amanda (Lifelong Playdate). Here are some of my favorite bloggy blogs that I would like to nominate for their creativity and awesome blogging... Congrats Ladies!!! You are all great bloggers in your own right.

Shannon@ A Crafty Mom's Blog-she gives great advice and her little ones are so cute. Plus her little Leah was born a day before Will!

Erin@ Baby Bridges-my great friend Erin who I have known since 8th grade. Think beaches. She is getting ready to have her first little one, sweet Irelynn. Can't wait tell she is here!

Megan@ Heath Family Happenings-a cool, busy mom who still finds time to blog

Andrea@ Sgt and Mrs Hub-she is the best photographer around. everyone go to her blog you will be amazed and her kids are adorable.

Meghan@ The Siureks-Meghan is Erin's cousin, that is how I was introduced to her blog plus her little Drew is a couple weeks younger than Will and he is really cute. They are cubs fans too!!! We love cubs fans.

The award...translated "Arte Y Pico" means "peak of art" and here are the rules/guidelines for the award:
1. Choose five blogs you consider deserving of this award based on creativity, design, interesting material, and overall contribution to the blogger community, regardless of the language.
2. Post the name of the author and a link to his/her blog so everyone can view it.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given him/her the award.
4. The award-winner and the presenter should post the link of the "Arte Y Pico" blog so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5. Please post these rules.

Happy Tuesday!!! Gotta go...the cubbies are on. Tell tomorrow blog world!

Surprise Post from Will and Daddy

Surprise Mommy! I hacked into your lovey world of blogs. I had to see what all this bloggy world had to offer. I even checked out some of your friends you have on here, like The McMommy Chronicles, Sgt and Mrs Hub, and even Lifelong Playdate.

(Daddy in the background): Will, what are you doing?

Will: I'm doing what Mommy does all day long?

(Daddy walking over to computer): And that would be?

Will: Blogging of course!

Daddy: So, this is what she does when I'm at work?

Will: No, she does a lot more, but she spends most of her time doing this.

Daddy: I see, well, lets let Mommy know how much we love and appreciate everything she does, even if she spends hours on the computer.

Will and Daddy: We Love you Mommy!!

Will: Let's go check out the cars daddy!

Daddy: Now your talking..

Made My Day

First off...Happy 5 month Birthday to my sweet, precious Will. You have given me great joy and each day you surprise me with something new. You are the light of my life and my little lovey! I can't wait to celebrate each and every special birthday and event with you.

Second..Thanks Amanda for giving us some bloggy bling! You really made my day with the award! I love blogging and being apart of such a wonderful group of moms who inspire me each day with their stories and helpful hints of the mommy world. We are honored to receive it from such a great blog like yours.

Thanks to Will and my hubby for giving me something to blog about and to all those weirdos out there that have made it onto my blog...like the peeing off the boat guys.

Without further a do....the arte y pico award!!! Thanks again Amanda.

SUMMER IS HERE..TIME TO GET YOUR REAR IN GEAR!

Exercise of the Week




The Butt Buster

bStrengthens hamstrings and butt; works ab and back muscles as well! Lie face up on floor and place heels, ankles and backs of calves on top of a stability ball, legs straight and together, arms relaxed by sides.Contract abs and press heels down on ball, lifting hips and lower torso off floor into bridge position, so body rests on shoulders and upper back to form one straight line from shoulders to heels.

b Maintaining bridge position, tighten your butt as you bend knees to roll ball toward hips. Straighten legs, rolling ball away from you to starting position.

bJenny's Trainer Hint: To keep tension on butt and hamstrings, maintain the bridge position without dropping your hips; back should remain straight throughout move.

Also if you do not have a ball you can do this move modified. Just put your legs up on your couch and do basic glute lifts.

bStart with 3 sets of 15 repetitions and work up to 20 repetitions per set.

New Look..Same Great Blog!

With each day I am getting more and more familiar with the bloggy blog world. Will went down with success tonight, so I figured I would work on making my blog B E A U T I FU L.

I puffy heart our blog mommy!

Peeing off a boat? WHAT!

I will keep this short and to the point. What is it with men peeing off boats or for that matter peeing wherever they want? I just don't get it.
I took Will for a walk yesterday and we were watching the boats launch into the water but we got more than we asked for. Not a sight I was wanting to see.
These two guys were going to go crabbing from what it looked like, they were on a small fishing boat with all their gear and what not. Typical here in Annapolis.
Well, they start off on their way and one guy goes to the edge of the boat and starts peeing! You just see this stream coming out. Mind you he is facing all these gorgeous houses on the water doing it! I am sure those people thought these guys were out of their minds! Then the other guy does the same thing!
I gave Will a talking to and said he shall never do that! If it is an emergency and you are a child that can't hold it, maybe. But come on!
All I have to say is, Peeing off a boat, why??

WHAT A DAY!

Well, I meant to post last night but life just took over yesterday. We had a gorgeous day here in Annapolis, the weather was perfect, you think life would be perfect. Yeah right!

It all started when my sweet Will did not want to go down for a morning nap but yawned, fussed, and rubbed his eyes away. So missing that nap we read some books and played in the bouncer, then it was time for his second bottle of the day with a little cereal on the side(I have started the cereal in the a.m. only for him to see how his digestive system would take to it). Well as I started to give him his bottle he fell asleep on me! What a little pickle. It was funny because he knew when his bottle was done and he just woke up! Then I was able to feed him his cereal and what happened next was just plain gross! Sorry I am using a lot of exclamations to describe. Well, this baby can sure let out some gas and really disgusting, noisy gas! Needless to say I was about to pick him up to take him to his room and change his stinky butt. But instead we headed straight for the bath. We had a major blowout diaper! I had poop on my hands, it went all over his bouncer, it was EVERYWHERE! This was just one of many things that went wrong yesterday.

Then we went for a nice long walk to make him sleepy. When we got back home he was out. Needless to say he only took about a hour nap, he was having a bad dream and woke himself up. So I rocked him and he fell asleep for another 30 minutes. Will is usually a good napper so we were having a really off day. Feed again and he devours his bottle. He is almost up to 8oz. every 3 1/2-4 hours.

Now it was time for mommy to get some work stuff done, I was going to go and get gas and go and pick up my flyers from the copy center and then go to my friend's neighborhood and pass out the flyers. Well, we pull into the gas station which is scary in itself with the way gas prices are! I pulled up and put the car in park and turned it off. Then I hear this noisy car in front of me, blocking me in! I was like what the H E double hockey sticks! It was four random guys sitting in their car staring at me! I was just sitting in my car! I got in my wallet to get my card out and I could just feel them still staring at me. What was going on and what did they think they were going to do? For crying out loud I was with my child and there were tons of cars around, what were they thinking? I know I might have been a bit over reactive but it just freaks me out when people are staring you down for no good reason. Anyway, I was ready to just back out of my spot and get out of there. Then they pulled to the side and were looking at me through the side window. Meanwhile I just kept my head down and was ready to leave at any minute. They finally left but as they were leaving the station they were looking back at me. There are some serious weirdos out there!

By this time I am like I should just go home with the day that I am having. So I get my flyer and head to L's house and we start to pass out the flyers, by this time it is about 4:00. I thought that Will would fall asleep in his stroller as we were passing out flyers. NO! He cried the whole time, and this baby loves to be outside and in his stroller. L pushes the stroller and I carry Will for about 2 miles before he pukes all over himself and me! I didn't have a extra shirt with us, it was back in his diaper bag. So I had to take his shirt off and walk around with a shirtless baby! I am sure people thought what is she doing?

Well, we get back to L's house and it is 5:15. I know that we have to get on the road because he needs his nightly rituals or else he is really thrown off. Not that he wasn't already. Well we get stuck in traffic like I predicted, Will starts crying because he did not nap, so I blast some Rascal Flatts and he falls asleep. When we get home I start getting his books and toys that we normally play with before he goes to bed. We skipped the bath since he had one earlier in the day. Go through it all and he is yawning. Well, we still have not mastered putting him to sleep on his own, so I put him in his swing to go to sleep at about 7pm. He is wide awake! Meanwhile during this whole day Lew is at work. He did not get home tell after 11pm. Anyway, so I take will out and play with him some more and he gets fussy, so again I put him in his swing and he starts to drift off because at this point, I am literally at my breaking point. Tired, exhausted, emotionally drained, physically drained. He must see it, either that Enya put him to sleep. So about 20 minutes later I take him to his crib and he is still asleep! WOO! HOO!

Then I eat frozen yogurt for dinner...YUMMY! I was not about to make a gourmet meal and have Will wake and it get cold. So yogurt it was.

That did not last long because he was up, shrilling crying. I tried to calm him down w/o taking him out of his crib, that did not work. I rocked him back to sleep, put him in his crib. Ten minutes later he is at it again, tried to calm him down, not happening, rock him to sleep. He is out but then moves and wakes, give him the binky, he is out. By this time I was needing a drink!
At about 8:40 there is peace in the Shutan house. What do I do watch repeats of Jon and Kate plus 8. Can't help it, love that show. I do not know how she did it with that many babies at once!
Well, that was my day in a nutshell.
This was a long day!

I was thinking that we should do a post where we all write about the best day in our lives. Or themed posts, like the best birthday we have ever had etc. You know what I am talking about. Anybody have any ideas, I think this would be cool!
Have a great Thursday!

Binky Monster..No way!

First off I must say that I really do like the binky except at night when the binky monster comes out to haunt us! Will loves his binky especially when he is going to bed. But once he hits the crib everything falls apart, the binky comes flying out, hands moving about, itching the eyes, kicking the legs in the air and all sorts of weird noises come out of this precious little baby. But I do not understand this whole binky thing...why does the binky monster come out at night when you just want sleep?? My husband stands next to me while I hold the binky in Will's mouth and asks, "Why doesn't he like to sleep?" I am hoping that this question only pertains to first time dads! I reply..."Like I know, I am not a mind reader of the binky and his sleeping." He is sleepy, out of it, maybe he does not realize what he is doing. Your guess is as good as mine." So after about 10 minutes of holding the binky and holding his legs down from kicking he finally retreats to the blissful thing we call SLEEP! Thank goodness.
Until morning when he wakes at 4:30 and I bring him in our bed because I just cannot take standing next to the crib for 20 minutes holding the binky in for him to go back to sleep. I did this last week, I put my hand on the edge of the crib and then rested my head on my hand, later that day I realized I had poison sumac on my hand and now on my forehead. So I won't do that again.
I love the binky monster!! Who can resist this cute little face though? Sleep deprived and all! Who cares when you can stare at this all day long.

The teeth are coming in...soon we will have a little biting machine on our hands...

Having some squash and a top off...

"Geez... Not another pic daddy...don't you have enough?"

This is too Weird!

So I got this forward and usually I just hit delete but today I guess I felt like reading the forwards. Anyway this one is too good to pass up. It actually worked for me! Give it a try and let me know if it worked on you as well.

YOUR AGE BY EATING OUT Don't tell me your age; you probably would tell a falsehood anyway-but your waiter may know! YOUR AGE BY DINER & RESTAURANT MATH

This is pretty neat DON'T CHEAT BY SCROLLING DOWN FIRST! It takes less than a minute. Work this out as you read . Be sure you don't read the bottom until you've worked it out! This is not one of those waste of time things, it's fun.

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to go out to eat. (more than once but less than 10)

2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)

3. Add 5

4. Multiply it by 50

5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1758... If you haven't, add 1757.

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born. You should have a three digit number


The first digit of this was your original number. ( I. e., How many times you want to go out to restaurants in a week.) The next two numbers are YOUR AGE ! ------ (Oh YES, it is!)
THIS IS THE ONLY YEAR (2008) IT WILL EVER WORK, SO SPREAD IT AROUND WHILE IT LASTS

EXERCISE OF THE WEEK.. WOO! HOO!

Okay ladies. This is the first exercise to start off your summer workout program! I have started with abs because that is my favorite thing to work and what mom or any non-mom doesn't want to work their stomach? This is actually is an exercise that I love doing and my clients love as well. You feel it not only in your abs, but your arms and your quads. I will give instruction on each exercise but if you have any physical issues that you might need to modify that exercise feel free to leave me a comment and I will give you additional assistance.

Sit erect on the floor with legs extended in front of you, knees bent slightly. Hold a medicine ball or anything that weighs about 5-8lbs. Look around your house you will find something i.e. a dumbbell, a small water jug. Hold it close to your middle, elbows bent close to sides. Slowly rotate to your left, as if to set the ball just behind your left hip; follow the ball with your eyes, allowing your upper torso to rotate. Repeat, this time rotating to your right side; continue alternating sides. Start with 2 sets of 12 to 20 reps.

Add a third set if you can, resting 1 minute between sets.

Good Luck and leave a comment with any questions that you might have. I would be glad to help.

Happy EARLY Father's Day Daddy!

Dear Daddy,
Thank you for always making me laugh uncontrollably. Thank for playing all the noise games with me..including the one where you make a farting noise and then i copy you. I enjoy the times we are together and I can't wait for you to teach me everything about golf, fishing, the cubbies, the bears, and how to love. Thanks for being my Daddy and loving me more than air. Happy 1st Fathers Day Lew! We love you so muchesss!!

Naptime..or so we thought

I know it has been a couple of days that I have blogged away about the comings and goings in the Shutan clan. It has been so hot here and we have not been able to take our daily walks outside so we have resorted to going to the mall and walking...that is dangerous! I always end up leaving with something. I come home with a bag and my husband is like I thought you were just going for a walk? That never happens.
So I have been busy being a independent Personal Trainer here in Annapolis..anyone who reads this in the area feel free to contact me for training. Anyway, I have kept a lot of my clients that I had while I was prego with Will and I know it is the best thing for me now. But it is a lot of work, working for yourself. I have been constantly emailing people that I have trained in the past, people that are interested in training, and so forth. But I never thought that it would be this tedious. I am currently working on some flyers to pass out in one of my girlfriend's neighborhood. I know there a lot of mom's out there that would rather not go to a gym and would prefer to train in their house or in their neighborhood. I guess I will see what comes of it. If anyone has any good marketing ideas I would love to hear them. I am planning on going to some local spots that I know will let me put up some flyers, sometimes you come back and the flyers are in the trash though! That annoys me! I was also thinking of starting on Monday posting a "Exercise of the Week". I will have a pic of it up there and eventually it will be a nice selection of exercises that mom's or anyone can do at home without having to leave their house. What do you think?
Well here is what you have been reading all that stuff up there for. Here are some pics of Will this week. He fell asleep on our bed after a long afternoon. But he quickly woke up when our dog came into the room barking!

Okay..this is really creepy! He does this a lot when he is dreaming..he sleeps with his eyes open! I think he is in his REM sleep. That rapid eye movement scares me...

Now he is out..look at the chubby cheeks! Sleeping away.

Sleepy Will rolling over to his tummy..looking very out of it! Why Ella?

" Mom..why does Ella have to bark whenever she sees a squirl!? I was trying to catch some zzz!"

Will's First Time at the Pool!

Well, on Saturday we went to the pool and it was quite an experience to say the least. We got this really cool floatation device, a cute little turtle for Will. Anyway upon entering the pool we were told that we could not take his turtle in the "big" pool. What? I had never heard of this. then they proceeded to tell us that we could only use it in the baby pool. Are you serious? Well of course none of this lifeguards have children, so they do not know. Then he asked if we had a ecologically friendly diaper on. What? Believe me, we recycle and we have gone green. He said that we cannot use the swim diapers because they leak. OMG! Well, by that time I was like where the heck do I get a ecological diaper? So he said they sell them there. Well we got one and to make a long story short, they did not have a small and they gave us a large. Well a large ecological diaper is not going to fit a baby who is 14lbs and this diaper he gave me is designed for a toddler. Anyway, here are some great pics of Will on his first pool outing. He loved the water and had such a good time. He did get tuckered out and took a little nap but he was ready to go back as soon as he woke up.

Will trying to grab the camera from daddy.

Up close, again trying to grab the camera.

Wild hair Will, we put sunblock in his hair and it just went crazy!

Well, daddy says that Will was asking for knuckles here. It is too cute.

Knuckles again with a very laid back look!


All smiles for mommy and daddy.

I just love the pool and my new teeth coming in!

Trying to grab the camera and sticking his tongue out. A multi-tasker!

Just another pic in his safari sun hat. Many more days of the pool to come!

Going To The Pool Today!!

It is going to be a humid day here in Annapolis. So we are headed to Va. today to visit my sister and go to her pool. This will be Will's first time at the pool. We have got lots of sun protection, a cool new turtle floatation device that has a top to it, water babies spf 50, and a water proof shirt. He is ready! I will have some pics up hopefully tomorrow of his experience. I hope everyone has a great Saturday and if you are getting the weather we are getting, stay cool!

Will with his shades on! Suprisingly he does not mind them and he actually keeps his eyes open when he is wearing them. Guess we will see how long these last.

I just love those gummy smiles! I can't get enought of them!

Just A Picture

Just look at the little bird legs sticking out! They run in this family...for sure!

Thanks!

First I just wanted to say thanks to all that stopped by to give me a little advice on sleeping. I will keep you all posted on the ins and outs/ups and downs of Will and his sleeping. To Shannon, the 1st Shannon that commented, I would love to stop by your blog but I was not able to get linked to it. Will was born on Jan. 23. I thought that was kind of cool! Here are some random pictures of my niece Lilly at her last soccer game of the season. This was her first year, she is actually quite good. She gives those boys a run for their money, that is for sure. She pushes them around the field!

Lilly sitting on the sidelines just itching to go in and play. Such a moment captured though, her just sitting there.

Lilly amongst the boys...again a moment captured.

Lilly going after the ball, my sister said she got better and better with each game played. She has so much energy to burn off!

Lilly with a funny look on her face, I did not put some of the pics up because it seems like every time Lilly was going after the ball her tongue was sticking out, like it helped with the kicking of the ball. Sooo...Funny!

Swing..Sleep..Swing..Crib..Wake..Sleep..Wake..You Get The Picture

This is a question to all the moms out there. How do you get a 4 month old to fall asleep on his own without the use of a swing, without putting him in his crib to "cry it out"? That is my question. I do not mind putting him in his swing to fall asleep, it saves my arms! But once the transfer from the swing to the crib is complete, within 10 minutes he is up, usually being fussy. So I go in and give him his binky which calms him down, but forget it, if that binky falls out of his mouth it wakes him up again. This routine will go on for about 2-3 times and then by the last time he is out. My sister says I should do the Dr. Ferber method, but it is really hard for me to just put him in his crib and let him cry. Since he really does not cry a lot. So to all the moms out there, I need your advice on what has worked for you, what you might suggest, what you have heard works. I will take any advice on this. Gotta go...watching "So you think you can dance". Don't you just love these shows!

Tummy Time..and Some rolling over..

Hope you enjoy this other video...this one has a little more of Will talking. It is way too funny! You will get a kick out of it.

JUMP-A-ROO TIME!!

As promised here is a video of Will for the first time in his jump-a-roo. He loved it! Plus you can hear all the talking he has been doing lately. So sweet, I could just eat him up! He did not quite get the jumping down but he is a fast learner. It was so cute, his little legs sticking out! Whenever it moved he would get so excited. We were needing a new toy of interest as he has gotten bored with all of his laying down kicking toys. We might get him the other jump-a-roo from baby einstein since it has some toys he can play with but for now, I think that he seemed to enjoy this a lot. Happy Tuesday!!