Phew. Like Wow. Seriously.

Readers, I'm in awe. Awe of the multi-tasking mom. And I know a lot of people see me in this role with the amount of things I like to keep on my plate but I've got nutin' on those that REALLY able to make use of their full 24 hours. 

For example, it's tough to find time to blog. And this is supposed to be MY fun forum - my outlet. {I've often told my husband - the truly budding writer - that he needs to start a blog. Daddy blogger. Strangely he offered to get back to me and hasn't...Note to self.}

And the whole really-can't-you-squeeze-30-minutes-into-your-day-to-workout fiasco. I TRY, okay? That's why when friends and I discovered Mommastrong and her The Hook Challenge, I about jumped for joy. 

The Hook is a mommy-focused wellness plan that allows you to do workouts by the comfort of your own laptop or smartphone in 15-minute increments. Like me, last night around 9:20pm, hidden away with my MacBook Air down in the kids basement playroom. Praying my husband wouldn't come down and judge me for burpees that look nothing like my high school soccer self's used to. 

Yes, there are burpees in The Hook. But don't let that discourage you.You can carve out 15 minutes from your day (and squeeze a little more firmness into your bum) easily and Mommastrong also offers an online community known as "The Tribe" to help egg you on in your adventure for wellness.  Each day brings a new video to watch and immediately-break-a-sweat, kick-yourself-into-gear over with Courtney, Mommastrong's founder leading the way. 

She even has a stray kiddo or dog venture into the camera at times so you know the authenticity of what you're doing (read: working out for 15 minutes hidden away in the kids playroom) is mirrored on the other side of the camera with Courtney. Because she's squeezing it in too at home. 

Understand - I'm in Day 2 of 30 in this challenge so tomorrow when my quads are screaming at me and my glutes can't handle another squat, my sentiments may change. But that's what The Tribe is for - to keep pushing me forward. {Or as Mommastrong says, "Keep F**king Going. She's all forceful and influential and Tony-Goldwyn-shouting-at-Olivia-in-Scandal-in-a-way-that-supercharges-your-internal-goddess like that.}

I love when the kids ring the doorbell.
I love when the kids ring the doorbell.
I love when the kids ring the doorbell.
I love when the kids ring the doorbell.
I love when the kids ring the doorbell.
I love when the kids ring the doorbell.
I love when the kids ring the doorbell.
I love when the kids ring the doorbell.
I love when the kids ring the doorbell.
I love when the kids ring the doorbell.
I love when the kids ring the doorbell.
I love when the kids ring the doorbell.
I love when the kids ring the doorbell.   
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Oh I'm sorry - did you find that repetition annoying? Yes? Well so is having the kids ring the doorbell 14,287 times in a row while I'm inside cleaning. I'm officially taking this as a sign that I don't need a clean house.

I'm here. No really.

It's me: The Momista. The one who was so hell-bent on driving my new little outlet (read: blog) forward, and then fell off the face of the earth blog-ily. Not virtually or literally, but blog-ily. See there's been a wee bit of activity on my end between the fam, a full-time job trying to save the Hoosier environment, a pet project I like to call THE COOLEST ORGANIZATION EVER (don't worry, there will be plenty of explanation on that to come), staying up until all hours of the night to regain my sanity, catching up on all that's right with the world, and not, and I'm sure there's more but I'm tired of hitting the comma button.

,

What the... 

, , , 

Now this is getting downright ridiculous. 

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 

Enough. Just know I'm here. And I have lots loaded up in my head to write, er, blog, so it'll get out there soon. 

Sit back and enjoy a cold PBR. I was dying to today but instead indulged in... water. Not the same. 

Introducing - Momista

My dear readers. What a time it has been since we last checked in with each other. We moved. The kiddos grew. I gained a few pounds, lost a few pounds. We gained a new Pope. Ryan Gosling gained a new girlfriend. Blogger still has the same boring old fonts. Really all the crucial things are being touched on here. 

In actuality though, it's been quite some time. And a few changes are ahead for this joint. 

First, a new moniker. Momista. I hope you like it... and if you don't, well, I do. So it's stickin' around. It defines me - a mom. A fashionista. A momista if you will.

Second, yes we'll shop-talk the mom-stuff but I'm not going to bold-face lie to you my friends. I'm not a supermom nor will I pretend to be one. We all make mistakes. (Case in point: I failed to realize last Friday was Pajama Day at H's school. So I became the mom barging into the school storytime carrying Are these matching Toy Story jammie tops with a Hasn't he outgrown these jammie bottoms.) And I'll share those out from time to time because frankly, it's cathartic.

Third, my kiddos names and some personal details will remain just that - mine. Sure, if you dig through you'll be able to figure things out but moving forward = mine. (ALL MINE, MWAH AH AH.)

So let's get this show on the road.

May The Force (Of VW) Be With You

I'm in love. Like SO in love... with a TV spot. Now before you guffaw at my desire to nuzzle the geniuses behind this VW commercial, just watch it. Perhaps it's the fact that we have a little man at home who fits this role perfectly, but ultimately I think it's just that this spot is, well, spot on. Enjoy.

NO Way

My goal last year was to read 20 books. I made it to 5. The year prior it was 15 (a goal I met, mind you). So in effort to kick off 2011 on the right foot, I bought a title that's been on my reading list since I spotted it on bookstore shelves: Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. And then gifted a couple more for Christmas.

Being holed up in bed right now battling an extreme case of the flu, I managed to finish the book last night and WOW. Just wow. I tweeted my 3-word review out last night into Twitterland. And you can only imagine my delight finding this response by Tatiana in my inbox this morning. I know: All she said is thank you. But she still said it. To me. One lowly reader a full continent away. How cool.

A Message From Beyond

Yes. It's been a while. Quite a while. And look at all that's happened since: Sarah Palin gained her own television show, flare jeans have made a resurgance, and OH YEAH, I had a baby. Like a whole other physical human. (And PS, she's pretty much the best. Read: *awesome kid*).

I can't guarantee you'll hear tons from this end, what with balancing 2 crazy kids, a traveling man for a hubs, that full-time ad career, and a stocked Anthropologie closet (no one said I had to do this wearing running shoes!). But I can guarantee - you'll be hearing something. Starting with rationale for why this new blog template: IF I WISH IT TO BE WARMER IT MIGHT ACTUALLY HAPPEN.

Stay tuned.

The Lone Pregnant Belly Shot

Well, I think this is all we're going to get in way of pregnancy belly shots so enjoy. It's from this week; I'm officially at 9.5 months. For comparative sake, the image below is from when I was 9.5 months preggers with Hunter and thusly the weight of a small (but sizable) house. Phew.

Baby Peanut Update

Hi everyone. It's been a very trying week but I wanted to give you an update on how the impending addition is doing, now that we're less than 5 weeks out from meeting Little Miss.

This past Saturday I went into pre-term labor and had to be treated at Beaumont. I have been having some growing Braxton-Hicks contracts which is to be expected at this stage of pregnancy, but they were getting pretty intense while I was visiting Eric and Laura and eventually started feeling some severe cramping as well. I stopped by home to find Brad (who was out running) and proceeded on to Beaumont Labor and Delivery where I ended up getting hooked up to an IV, pumped full of fluid (who knew I was dehydrated?) and given a shot of Turboline to stop the contractions which were erratic but at their worst, 6 minutes apart. Fortunately this worked and we were sent home.

Monday's recheck at the doctor went fine although she alerted me that I'm measuring small for the baby's growth and scheduled me for an ultrasound this morning, so I'm currently drafting this update from the food court at the hospital. Measuring small can be attributed to a number of different factors -- low amniotic fluid, low fetal weight or even just the way the baby is positioned, so had to just sit tight until today to find out the cause.

Baby looked good on the ultrasound and one of the profile photos is above. She has both of her hands up by her mouth in this photo so her profile is slightly obscured although you can see her little nose. She's currently around 4 1/2 pounds which is a bit small for this stage but I'm just thinking she'll end up being a petite little thing like her mommy. Seems only fair given Hunter is such a giant. They spent a lot of time doing measurements and will give me a call this afternoon with an update but overall things looked okay. The fun little tidbit is that she apparently has a lot of hair! It was even showing up on the ultrasound so the tech was laughing at that because it's not often she's able to pick it up.

I have been having a lot of cramping and Braxton Hicks since Saturday so please keep your fingers crossed and the prayers going that Baby Peanut is able to stay put until July 13th so we can ensure her some good development time in the cooker. Overall, any good thoughts you can send this way would be most appreciated.

With much love, Jeanine (and Baby Peanut)

The View From Way Up Here

Oh THERE ARE MY FEET!

While we await Brad's true photo shoot of The Bell (as in pregnant 'belly') this weekend, perhaps you can feast your eyes on my current viewpoint of Baby Peanut.

5 weeks, 5 days and counting!