New Year, New Baby, New Body

It’s a new year, and the long awaited Baby Hafele has finally arrived!  Born on my birthday (one week plus one day overdue), Jema Mae made her arrival, and it couldn’t have been a more wonderful and beautiful experience.

Proud Mommy right here!

For those of you who follow my blog, you may recall that last year on my birthday in my Blog 5 Things I’m just so OVER in my 30s, I made a declaration  that for all future birthdays I was claiming my special day as my own, for just me. I’m going to channel Alanis Morissette for a moment and say, “Isn’t it just IRONIC???!!!!”  My birthday will never be about just me again…and to my own surprise, I’m ecstatic about it.

As I lay in the hospital in labor on my birthday, I looked at the clock and watched the hours go by….there goes the hour I had scheduled a massage for myself….there goes the hour that I had planned a much needed hair appointment.  Then at 3:11 p.m. a tiny little child was placed on my chest. She was crying, red-faced and covered in newborn goo, and she was so beautiful, so unbelievably precious, that I felt my heart explode in happiness.  There is not one thing better than the birth of your child, not a thing in this world that can compete with that incredible blessing.  So my birthdays will not be about me anymore; they will be about “we”, me and Jema, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

Many joint birthday celebrations to come

I am now a week into being a mother of three.  It has been heartwarming to watch my older two children fall in love with their little sister, to watch their excitement in holding her each and every time, to listen to them read her stories, to watch our family grow in such a special way.  And my husband…is there anything that makes a wife love her husband more than watching him with their newborn baby?  I don’t think so.  I think the birth of a baby is a gift to a marriage, a reminder of the absolute best in our partner.  Believe me, there are difficulties…the trials of breastfeeding, the sleep schedule, the adjustment of the homework and cooking and cleaning…it’s not easy, but it is SO WORTH IT.

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Now a week in, I’m beginning to shift gears to give some focus to my health and fitness.  My six-year old daughter is quite confused as to why I still look pregnant, which she has bluntly asked me about several times.  I can’t help but think of how many times person after person said to me “You’re all baby!”  They lied!  I’m grateful for this still pregnant-looking body and all that it did for me and our family over the past 10 months.  It is truly incredible when you think about it.  I don’t expect to be back to pre-pregnancy weight a week postpartum by any means.  But if I didn’t say it is a challenge to look in the mirror and see a body so foreign to my past fit-self, I’d be lying.

All baby????

With a focus on fitness, not thinness, I’m moving forward into the new year.  I’d love to hear about what fitness goals my readers have committed to for the new year.  What are you doing to feel good in 2019?  I started with a healthy diet on Monday.  Buh-bye Little Debbie!  Hello green smoothie!  I have to take special care of my diet since I am nursing my daughter.  I want her to have the best, nutrient rich milk possible.  Given that she is a week old and has already surpassed her birth weight by six ounces tells me I’m doing okay.  She’s my little chubba-wubba, and I love that SO MUCH!  I’m sharing below some of my smoothie recipes, and I’d love to hear all about yours.  My smoothies are a bit high in sugar, so I’d love to hear how you combat that challenge and don’t give up on taste (I share these with my kiddos and don’t want to lose the opportunity of getting a full cup of spinach into their bodies because their smoothie tastes like dirt!).  I have also started working out once a day mixing light PiYo workouts with walking workouts.  I’m taking it easy and listening to my body, but excited for the transformation to come, and can’t wait to increase my energy level to be able to play at my 10-year old’s level again.  He’s counting the days until we can go on a run together!

Please leave me your wellness resolutions, physical and mental.  I’m thinking about starting a closed accountability group where we can share recipes and workouts and encourage one another.  Please leave a comment if you are interested.  Free and positive is the name of the game. So thankful for my many blessings and looking forward to giving my husband and children my best self this year.  Let’s do this 2019!

Mixed Fruit Smoothie

• 382 Calories Per Serving
• Serves 2
• 2 Cups Spinach
• 1 Cup Classic Frozen Fruit Medley
• 1 Cup Blended Lowfat Vanilla Yogurt
• 1/2 Cup Classic Applesauce
• 1 Cup Orange Juice
• 2 Tbsp Flax Chia Blend
• 1 Tbsp Honey
• 1 Cup Milk

Green Iron Smoothie

• 314 Calories
• Serves 1
• 2 Tangerines
• 2 Cups Spinach
• 1/2 Frozen Banana
• 2 Tbsp Flax Chia Blend
• 1/4 Cup Blended Lowfat Vanilla Yogurt
• 1/2 Cup Orange Juice
• 3 Ice Cubes

Blueberry Smoothie

• 312 Calories Per Serving
• Servies 2
• 2 Cups Spinach
• 1 Cup Light Cranberry Juice
• 1 Cup frozen Blueberries
• 1/2 Cup Classic Applesauce
• 1 Cup Blended Lowfat Vanilla Yogurt
• 2 Tbsp Flax Chia Blend
• 1 Tbsp Honey
• 1 Cup Milk

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