Ava showed me a new meaning to Christmas. I saw so much joy in her face that I didn’t care about anything else besides spending time with my family.

Marc and I didn’t go crazy on presents with each other, we were just too excited to give Ava gifts that it didn’t matter what we got each other.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little stressed about the amount of toys we currently have in our house right now. Between all the gifts Ava received on her birthday & Christmas we basically have a small toy store.

I think we need to stash some away so she doesn’t get overwhelmed.

Here is a quick photo recap from our Christmas Celebrations:

Christmas Eve we went to Marc’s parents house in Rhode Island.

We got to watch Ava play with her cousins and we all enjoyed the numerous courses that Marc’s dad served to complete the “Italian 7 Fishes.”

I don’t eat all the courses but I did enjoy some delicious stuffed mushrooms, stuffed clams, etc.

When it was time to open presents I was so excited. Well I was excited to live through the kids. They had a blast tearing through presents and unwrapping the insane amount of gifts that they each received.

Ava truly loves her cousins and I couldn’t help but smile when I saw her rocking her little cousin Amelia in her little rocker.

It was such a fun night and went by way too fast.

Christmas morning was hands down my FAVORITE moment of the year.

When Ava woke up we told her Santa came, she got excited and started to walk down the stairs.

She bent down and looked at the tree, smiled, looked at us and started listing some of the big toys she got that she could see (that were unwrapped). She tried to move faster down the stairs and almost fell.. luckily she caught herself.

When she saw all the presents she couldn’t hold back her smile. It took her a while to get through all her presents because each one she opened she wanted to play with for a while.

It was such a fun morning that when we looked at the clock and it said 12pm we were shocked. It was time for my parents to arrive and for us to have some Christmas lunch and open more presents!

The day flew by and we enjoyed each other’s company. To be honest the rest of the day I didn’t take a single picture. I put my phone to the side and just enjoyed living in the moment with my family. It was PERFECT and a great ending to Christmas.

To continue our celebrations a little longer, we had a friends christmas party yesterday.

It was so much fun to hang out, chat with my friends, and of course see the kids open some gifts!

Do you have kids? Were they excited to see what was under the tree?

What was your favorite gift?

I am so thankful to be able to celebrate the holidays with both Marc’s family and my family!

(This picture is of Marc’s parents tree from 2014)

I am super excited to see Ava’s reaction to all the toys and fun stuff she will get under the tree from Santa this year! She is already excited and it makes this Christmas extremely special!

(Picture from Christmas 2014)

It is crazyy to think how so much has changed since last Christmas. I anticipate each year to get more exciting because Ava & Cooper make the holidays so much fun and now that Ava really understands what’s going on, I can’t help but join in on her excitement.

I hope you all have a great holiday!

(Picture from Christmas 2013)

Xoxo,

Kelly

This was hands down my favorite Christmas ever. We had some quality time with family in Rhode Island on Christmas Eve and then with my family in Connecticut on Christmas Day.

Tuesday night we headed to Rhode island to begin our holiday festivities.

Here is a quick recap of the 2 BIG days.

Marc and I managed to get a picture in before all the craziness began.

Who wore the Santa Hat better?

Ava loved all her snuggles from her Grandma.

One of Ava’s favorite gifts on Christmas Eve was her stroller. She puts her baby in it and pushes it around…. it was very cute to watch!!

One of the best parts about the day was seeing Ava’s curiosity while unwrapping gifts. We had to start unwrapping her gifts for her and then she would finish it. I think by the end of the day she got the hang of it.

Well actually by the end of Christmas eve day this girl looked like a ZOMBIE!!!  (hahah, no joke)  She still enjoyed her snuggle time with Cousin Natalie.

Ava truly made Christmas more magical for me and has brought so much more excitement for my family too!

They definitely made my day easier by playing with her and her new toys!

I can’t forget about my other child…..

Cooper was quite a character and loved playing with all the toys that Ava would leave behind.

We managed to get another picture together. (no I am not pregnant, Marc just placed his hand in an awkward spot)

OKAY.. to wrap up this long post.. here is a video of Ava with one of her Favorite presents.

Ava impressed us all with her Basketball moves. She is a quick learner and really listens to everything you say.

Clearly she takes direction well. She can already slam dunk a basketball!!

Did you get everything you wanted for Christmas?

Will you be doing anything fun for New Years Eve??

(A day late)

I hope your holidays are filled with fun, laughter & love!!

Ava has a lot of love to share!! She gave both Rudolph and her Mickey Mouse ornament a big old Christmas KISS.

I had a blast with her on Christmas Day. More pictures to come  

XOXO,

Kelly

I LOVE Christmas.

This weekend was all about productivity. I jammed a lot in to a small amount of time but I am so proud of my accomplishments!

Friday night I had a cookie party with my mom.

But first we ate some take out! I had Chicken Marsala & Veggies… so good!

Once I finished eating we got prepared for a night of baking. My mom and I each chose a different cookie recipe to make. My mom chose my Grandma’s Anisette Cookies which are a family favorite. They are loaded with eggs & butter but they bring me back to my childhood Christmas celebrations so I was all for it.

I chose a Soft Sugar Cookie recipe that I incorporated a Chobani Greek yogurt into. They came out GREAT! I was a little nervous and went back and forth about making it, but I went with my gut and I’m glad I did! We all agreed that they were yummy and how could you not enjoy a HEALTHIER traditional sugar cookie.

SOFT SUGAR COOKIE

Ingredients:

• 1 Egg
• 1 container plain Chobani greek yogurt
• 2 cups of flour
• 1/4 tsp of baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup butter
• 2/3 cup sugar

Directions:

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Place softened butter, egg, vanilla, and sugar in mixer and beat well. Slowly add in dry ingredients until dough has formed. Roll dough into medium size balls and flatten them on the pan. Add sprinkles. Bake at 350 degrees for 5-6 minutes or until golden on the bottom (all oven’s are different so make sure to watch them, they cook fast)

Enjoy!

Saturday morning I did Christmas shopping fairly early. I was able to get all of my shopping done by 10am. I was super pumped and impressed with all my good finds. I can’t wait to give everyone their gifts!

In the afternoon we headed to the YMCA to play while Marc worked out. Ava loved chasing the ball around, we had fun!

I didn’t need to use any of the equipment in the gym. Chasing Ava around for 45 minutes was plenty enough exercise for me!

Apparently being ultra productive and running a crazy amount of errands Saturday really did me in…..because I woke up with a sore throat on Sunday. I think it was a combination of not giving myself a break and catching a bit of Ava’s cold (YUP! She has another cold) She literally can’t win!

Not feeling too great and with a super productive Saturday already behind me, meant my Sunday was going to be a relaxing day around the house! However, it wasn’t too long after 10 am that I found myself out running a few more errands and continuing to check things off my holiday to do list! I did take it easy though… I watched a little football, took Cooper for a long walk, and then both Marc and I spent lots of time playing with Ava around the house.

We had a little Tea Party… Ava played with this toy set for 30 minutes. That is a long time for her to sit still.

Thankfully I can say I was feeling a bit better by the end of the day and Now I am off to teach Group Power! 

Are you all set for the Holidays?

Do you make cookies for Christmas? 

Yesterday afternoon I completed a quick but intense workout that left me sore. I am so happy to say that I will NOT be picking up a single dumbbell or weight today.

As I have mentioned in my Postpartum Journey Posts, I would like to practice and gain strength to be able to do consecutive full range Pull-Ups. Right now I can only do 1. My goal is 4 and I am giving myself 2 months. Ever since that collarbone injury back in early February, Pull-ups have been extremely tough because they place an enormous amount of stress on my shoulder. That is why I have been slowly working up to them! The Jumping Pull-ups in this workout are a great way to target all the muscles a normal Pull-up would, without placing too much stress on the upper body.

This is Marc’s new Pull-up Bar that I got him for his birthday. It is kind of like a present to me too.

Here is the workout:

Bosu Ball at Home Workout

Warm-up 100 jumping jacks, 100 butt kicks, 100 jump rope passes

(I did both close and wide grip jumping pull-ups)

8 Bosu Burpee to Press
8 Jumping pull-ups
8 Push-ups
30 seconds Bosu side shuffle 
30 seconds Plank dips on the bosu
8 Bosu Squats

Repeat this circuit 4x.

The jumping pull-ups got me! My back is feeling it this morning

The game plan for this weekend revolves around Christmas!! Tonight I am making some Christmas Cookies with my mom! I will be sure to share the recipe if they come out good.

I will also be finishing up some shopping. I have a few stores I need to quickly get to at some point this weekend. I’m sure the stores will be a ZOO.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

I would have loved to film my workout but I didn’t have someone to help me film!!

Here is an Example of a Jumping Pull-up

Bosu Lateral Side Shuffle

What is one exercise you want to work out?

What is one muscle or area of your body that is weak? 

Christmas is exactly 1 week from today, are you ready?? I still have a little more shopping to do but I am confident I will get it done tomorrow. I have my list ready to go!

For the past 10 plus years my best friends and I have been doing Secret Santa together, before we started secret santa we would just do small gifts for eachother! On Monday night we had our girls night and Christmas celebration at my friend Danielle’s house.

The five of us chatted, snacked on good food, and enjoyed our night together! Plus we all got great gifts.

This is Baby Addie, she is 3 months old isn’t she cute!?

We exchanged gifts which was always a blast. My friend Lauren got some awesome slippers to wear on the airplane since she travels all the time.

My Secret Santa got me some awesome workout pants, a manicure gift card, this awesome head massager.. etc.

Cooper LOVED the head massager, it basically put him to sleep!!

I think it is so important to spend time around the holidays with the people that you love. It was so fun!

__________________________________________________________________________________________

SOO.. Now lets talk about Carb Cycling…. a totally different topic. I am a huge Chris Powell fan. I love his approach as a trainer and I love his book Choose More Lose More. It is a sensible program and easy to follow. I enjoy it.

I am not one of those people that can cut carbs. I live on carbs. I need them in my life and when I don’t have them I’m cranky and I crave them!!

Tuesday I started with Low Carb, Wednesday I did High Carb, and today I am on Low Carb again. You alternate back and forth.

Here is a brief rundown of how it works:

• eat 5 meals
• eat a high carb breakfast that includes both carbs & protein within 30 minutes of waking
• Drink a Gallon of water
• eat your remaining meals either High-carb or Low-Carb depending on which day you are following

For more details check out Chris Powell’s website for Carb Cycling 101

When I follow his approach I have noticed my energy is stable and I am not starving through-out the day. This program is great for people trying to lose weight, but It is also great for those who are trying to maintain. I am trying to maintain my weight and it has helped me feel great during my workouts and the best part is that I can eat the foods I love!

Have you ever heard of Carb Cycling? How do you feel about it?

What are some tips you can give that have helped you lose weight or maintain your weight?

]]> http://thefitskool.com/?feed=rss2&p=4888 2 http://thefitskool.com/?p=4802 http://thefitskool.com/?p=4802#comments Mon, 15 Dec 2014 14:02:42 +0000 http://thefitskool.com/?p=4802 Continue reading →]]> I just love the holiday season!! We decorated our Christmas tree this weekend and listened to lots of Christmas music, it definitely got us in the holiday spirit.

We now have a couple of Birthdays associated with the holiday season. Both Ava’s and Marc’s birthdays fall right around Christmas so there’s lots to celebrate and I am all for it. The more celebrations the better

Saturday night Marc and I headed to Morton’s Steakhouse in White Plains, NY for a dinner date night.

The food was so good

and the service there was unreal.

At the top of the menu, they wished Marc a Happy Birthday. Even if his name was spelt wrong it was a lovely touch! His birthday did fall on a special day 12/13/14

Check out Marc’s dinner plate…. YUM! We clearly LOVE steak.

With our steak we got a side dish of Spinach & button mushrooms and a side of horseradish mashed potatoes. I LOVED the mushrooms. There was something about the crispy outside and the sauce they were served with, I couldn’t help but pop them into my mouth! The potatoes had horseradish in them, I am not a huge horseradish fan so Marc ate a majority of the potatoes but i still enjoyed a couple of bites.

Our night together was a lot of fun and knowing that Ava was with my parents made the evening more enjoyable and relaxing.

Morton’s treated Marc to a Chocolate Molten Lava cake with some vanilla ice cream for his birthday dessert. It is a good thing this dessert wasn’t any bigger because it was incredibly hard to keep my spoon away.

(sorry the lighting isn’t good, but I’m pretty sure everyone would get upset if there was a flash going off every 5 minutes!!)

After dessert, we headed home where we had a birthday cake for Marc with my parents.

Guys, CAKE ON CAKE. It just doesn’t work, we had to pretend to eat the cake with my parents because we were so stuffed.

So all in all it seemed like all we did was eat and eat more this weekend. We definitely treated ourselves but I did keep my portions in check.

I am ready for some clean and healthy eating this week. Who is with me?

This picture of Ava makes me smile…she was so excited the Patriots won yesterday!!

What is your favorite cheat meal?

Does sugar make you crave more sugar?

Our Christmas came early this year… and we couldn’t be happier!!

The best Christmas present ever….

<3 Kelly, Marc, Ava, & Cooper