New Year....New Blog

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A lot has happened since my last blog post months back. As most of you know, I was doing personal training at a private studio up until May of 2013. Schedule, money and a few personal reasons aided in my decision to leave EIF. At this time I was questioning if training was really for me. Was I just in over my head? I absolutely LOVED what I was doing....but something wasn't right. I wasn't doing it on MY terms and I didn't like that. 

I took a break from training for a few months. I'd have some people over to the house and go through some sessions here and there....nothing consistent. Something was missing. By the time I left EIF I was miserable. I had just gotten to a point where enough was enough. BUT after a few months of not training, I was having the same feeling. I was miserable training for someone else and I was miserable not training. What's a girl to do????

A friend of mine, Anna, suggested starting a local boot camp. It was June/July and the weather was just right. I really couldn't say no. Without much thinking and without much preparation of WHAT I was going to do and HOW....we had our first group session on the 4th of July. With a simple post from Anna on Facebook and a little word of mouth, I had about 13 people show up to that first session. Half of whom I knew, and the other half came from that one Facebook post.

THANK YOU, ANNA!! :-*

Let's fast forward to right now. January 4th, 2014. Today marks exactly 6 months since the first session was held. We started as an outside group, bouncing around the Broadneck Peninsula, in search of parks, schools, and tracks that we could train at without being in the way of anyone else.

 We held classes under pavilions, on cement, on asphalt, and my favorite....under the stars with glow sticks.

We ran together

. We worked around mosquitoes, bats and the devilish screams of the early morning foxes. We've had some amazing times together and what's even more amazing is that you've all stuck with me through the uncertainty of what's going to happen next....and what happened next was so incredibly exciting!

In November 2013 we moved our outdoor boot camp indoors. I started renting space from a brand new studio that opened up in Severna Park. The wonderful owners opened their doors to me and these crazy boot campers of mine and we've been able to stay nice and warm indoors during this winter while having access to amazing equipment. We've been able to take our workouts to a completely different level. I've seen body types change, weight loss, and more importantly, I've seen some amazing people coming together with the same goal: bettering themselves.

All of these wonderful opportunities led me to start my own business. Bmore Vigorous Fitness Training. I have a serious passion for helping people. I understand how hard it can be to have the motivation to get yourself out of your comfort zone and push yourself. That's what my goal is. Whether you're just starting out on your fitness journey, you've been in the game for a while, or you're getting back in the game...I want to help.

I originally started this blog a couple of years back while I was pregnant. If you scroll through some posts you can see just HOW pregnant I was :) I was just your average, soon-to-be-mom, with your average, soon-to-be-mom, life. For whatever reason, I felt the need to blog about my experiences. After a solid year and a half of blogging, I stopped. Life got in the way. Life with an almost two year old got in the way. (In a good way, of course) Today it hit me again, so here I am, writing. While I'm not going to stop writing about my son, I will be blogging more about things that are fitness/health related. I'm ready to take my blog and 2014 in a new direction. Join me on my journey, why don't ya!

See, I told you I wasn't done posting about my son. New year....new bed! But still as handsome as ever!

<3

Routines

Well, hello! It's been waaaay too long and I've gotten out of my routine of blog writing. Looks like I need to get back into it. So many exciting things are happening and Camden is literally growing right before our eyes.

Let's start by chatting a little bit about Camden's bedtime routine....
If you want to ensure you see a Happy Camden in the morning, here's what you do.

(1) Most often you are playing cars or trains or hockey. Give him a solid 5 minute countdown and he's pretty good at putting toys away when asked. Of course we are getting into the "terrible two's"....so some days are better than others.

(2) Once upstairs: pajamas, milk and brushing teeth. In. That. Order. You try to get him to brush his teeth and he doesn't have his hands on his milk...forget it. He reacts like he just got bitten by a shark.

(3) Time for books. I always read him three. Sometimes daddy only reads him two. Sometimes he asks me to read the first book twice (I'll do anything for an extra few minutes of cuddle time)

(4) Books are done. Noise maker on. Lights off. "Rock me like a baby" is what Camden requests. This is my absolute favorite time.

(5) Song time. While we rock in the rocking chair it's time to sing. Camden likes to sing along. One day, about a month ago Camden threw me for a loop and asked me to sing the "baby song". A normal person would have probably started singing, Rock a bye Baby. I, on the other hand, start singing...."Baby Beluga..." from Full House. Except I don't know ANY of the words. So I sing the words, baby beluga over and OVER and OVER again. Guess who loves it??? Camden. Guess who makes me sing it EVERY night? Camden. In case you are not familiar with the song....please enjoy the video below.

....(5) Baby Beluga, Jesus Loves Me (which I also don't know all of the words to so Camden hums along in the middle with me), Twinkle Twinkle and then Happy Birthday. Yes we also sing Happy Birthday every night. In fact, we sing it three times. He normally sings Happy Birthday to mommy, daddy and then Chloe. We have Aunt Angie to thank for the happy birthday bedtime routine <3

(6) Kiss and  bed. "Good night. See you soon. Love you. Good bye."

If you master those solid 6 steps you will have a happy Camden in the morning. <3

I'm still trying to get Jeremy to "Rock me like a baby" before I go to bed. I haven't mastered that yet....

Back to School Jitters

Last night before I went to bed I started having back to school jitters. Why, you might ask? I'm not really sure. I'm not going back to school and Camden still has a few years to go, but the feeling was just the same as when I was in school.

Maybe it's from seeing all of the Facebook posts from my friends, or maybe it's from all of the school ideas people are pinning. Whatever the cause of it was, I went to bed last night thinking I was going to forget my locker combination or forget to put pants on before I headed to school with my schweet janschport backpack.

Even though I've had thoughts about being a teacher in the past, I've recently come to the realization that I don't think I would be good at it. My first thought always went to: summers and holidays off!! WHOOHOO! Not even thinking about all of the homework I'd have to take home, the extra hours spent at school, the parent meetings, teacher conferences.....and so on.

After teaching gymnastics to pre-k and kinder-gardeners, I realized teaching wasn't for me. I only saw the kids for an hour a day once a week....and I couldn't handle it. I need adults, or at least people I can have adult-like conversations with. I don't know if I could handle the back to school jitters each year. I don't know if I could handle having months off and then having to go back, fresh, with a new cast of characters. I don't know if I could handle the parents.

With that being said - hats off to you teachers! I really do admire you. I'll be the first to say you don't get paid enough for all of the work that you do. Having to experience those back to school jitters are enough for a raise. Keep up the good work and have a fantastic school year!!

Take your Camden to Work, day

Tuesday was Take your Camden to Work day. We went to API first to say hi to all of our friends. Had some snacks with Aunt Stephie. YUM.

Then we had lunch with daddy and got to play at his office.

Finally we went to mommy's work where we like to run around and play!

Camden has been really funny lately. He is becoming chattier, even though it is hard to understand him. It is also fun to give him little tasks to do. "Camden, go get mommy's shoes from the other room", "Help daddy put the toys away", "Help mommy shut the door", "Throw away the trash, please". I will say he probably does things that we ask with 90% accuracy. He is too freakin' smart!

He has started really feeding himself and he LOVES to eat. Give the boy a spoon and be prepared to clean up a mess! Good thing he is totally adorable.

NAKED BABY ALERT.

It's all fun and games...

This past week we have been having a lot of fun - mainly involving water. On Wednesday we had a swim date with some friends! The water wasn't toooo cold, which was nice.

And it was all fun and games until we had a little head injury incident. Brady and I had a little collision which resulted in him hitting his head on the corner by our kitchen....ouch. A little knot above his left eye with a pretty little cut...all while mom was in the bathroom for maybe 2 minutes. Looks like I am off the list for babysitting!!!! But it turns out that what they say about karma is true because not 5 hours later, Camden was doing laps around the house when he fell into a chair. 

Same spot - same huge lump - but no blood. And while the lump is gone, the bruise is still there....he ran into a chair...I swear.

Camden not only gets to swim at our house, he also gets to swim and Grandmom and Grandpop's house. They bought him a little pool that he can play and splash around in which has been perfect because it has been so incredibly hot outside!

 Camden has so much fun splashing and playing in the pool that now he thinks the tub is his own personal pool. 

What happened to the "no standing in the tub" rule, dad!??!

"What are you looking at?? I do what I want"

Celebrating Independence

While we had an extremely busy May/June....our July and August will hopefully be a little less planned. We celebrated our Independence yesterday and today with great friends and family. While Camden didn't get to enjoy the fireworks, he sure did enjoy the parties. Maybe next year we will let him stay up past his bedtime.

Team America!

We survived the crazy storm Friday night with minor limb debris and only about 30 hours or so without power. Camden slept right through the wind storm while I cried like a little baby thinking the world was ending. 

Camden had a great birthday party here a few weekends ago, and like the good mother that I am, I forgot to take pictures. He hated the cake....again....but he seemed to have an amazing time, and he got some pretty sweet gifts too.

He has also been spending more time during the week with his best friend Brady. They officially love each other.

Other than that, things have been going wonderful in the Floyd household. Camden picked up on the walking like a champ and now enjoys running, head forward. This means that mom and dad are constantly running around following him. Where's Camden?...just sticking his hand in the toilet....no biggie. 

Celebrate Good Times!

So many amazing things have happened over the past few weeks. Life has been crazy busy and it seems like it all happened so fast.

FIRST OFF! My best friend got married!!! EEK how exciting. Amber and Brian and a handful of helpers pulled together an amazing wedding in such a short time. And after 8 weeks of planning, we had a rehearsal dinner, bachelorette party, final sleepover, and a wedding - all in 4 short days! <3

 

Amber and Brian's wedding was Sunday, June 3rd. On Wednesday, June 6th, at 4:00am, we headed in the car to travel to the OBX for Steph and Howie's wedding. We got to the house before noon. THIS IS WHAT WE ARRIVED TO:

I feel like the best way to describe this place is...WTF. From the absurd amount of bedrooms, to the ridiculous amount of bathrooms, to the fact that there was always beer on tap, and always someone partying....the place, the vacation, and the wedding was out of this world.

So we got to spend some time at the beach. Camden loved to throw the sand...and hearing the waves crash made him cry. I'm still not sure what his final verdict was.

Don't worry, Jeremy and I are not pregnant in this picture. It is the wind blowing our shirts. And yes, that is a beer in my hand. There was one in my hand the whole time we were there. It was my vacation.....sue me. 

Cousin love!

Camden LOVED the pool. I could post picture after picture of him swimming. I'll save the pool pictures for his birthday party this weekend...I'm sure there will be plenty from that. 

Camden woke up on wedding day and it was his birthday! Aunt Angie and Uncle Tom got him CAPS hockey sticks so he can work on his skills and a CAPS floppy sun hat. THANKS!!

WEDDING TIME!!!!

Cutest ring bearer EVER

Here comes the bride <3

PARTY TIME!!

Birthday cake time! Which, he did not like, by the way. Hoping that he likes his cake the second time around

"It's my birthday....I do what I want" ....Like walk through the dance floor while the best man is giving his speech. Go 'head Camden. Do your thing!

<3

Saturday we celebrate his birthday with the Floyd's and our friends. Can't believe Camden is 1 already! Time really does fly when you're having fun...having fun with the best TODDLER in the world. Happy Belated Birthday Buddy!