Santee Stroller Strides Grand Opening!

What a day! What an event! The moment the first mom arrived and signed the registration card to participate in the free class- I felt giddy! There were about fifteen moms who came out to see what Stroller Strides was all about and I was so excited to show them!! I started the class at 9:30am and it was by far the largest class I have taught yet. I was yelling, singing, and running around like crazy! The little ones seemed happy and mamas were working up a sweat! The class was a success!

We returned from the Stroller Strides class to fun with bubbles for the kids, snacks, a Happy Baby Food tasting table, and lots of giveaways from our sponsors and local businesses.

The event was full of moms connecting and kiddos playing together. This is definitely an added benefit of Stroller Strides! You can get your workout and network with other moms. All of the moms and kiddos were different ages but it didn't matter, we were all there for the same reason. When you are a mom, your support network is truly invaluable. However, if you are like me (a military wife with no family in the area and a stay-at-home mom) it is not easy to make those connections and create that support network! My vision for Santee Stroller Strides was for it to be that place where moms can come and get a great workout, talk about what they are going through and feel supported in their role as a mom! On Grand Opening day my vision came alive! I could not be happier with how the event turned out and we already have a great group of Founding Moms! I am so excited for future classes and events in the company of other great moms!
 I also want to say thank you to all my friends that came out to support me and help me at the event! Many of them were former co-workers from my previous job and it meant a lot to me to have them take part in my big day! Also thanks to my husband for being so supportive and standing behind me with every new step I take in life.
In Stride :)

Don't forget you Luna Bar!

Meet the Vice President of Santee Stroller Strides- My son Jude!

Classes are held in Mast Park

Attendee Gift Bags

Moms With a Mission!!!

I am so excited and honored to be able to take part in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure this year! Santee Stroller Strides has decided to sponsor a team in honor of a friend's mother Pamela DeYoung. We will be walking/running/strolling under the name TEAM PAMELA!!! This is a great opportunity to bring women together and to honor my friend Kristan's mom. Kristan is such a strong woman and I cannot imagine the pain she and her sisters have been through with losing their mother.
This cause has also inspired me to host a Passionately Pink Healthy Home Party to raise awareness for breast cancer and toxins in the home!
As Luna Moms Club members, we are Moms On A Mission so I have planned a night out for moms to be with fellow moms while raising money for a great cause! You will learn new info on breast cancer awareness and find out how to make your home a safer place for you & baby! There will be yummy drinks, appetizers, and tons of fabulous prizes you won't want to miss out on! Click here for more details on the event!

Ticket prices will be $10/each or 3 for $20. There is no limit on how many tickets you can purchase and if you bring a friend you will get an extra ticket put in the raffle!

All ticket sale $ will be donated to the organization called Healthy Child Healthy World. This organization is leading a movement that educates parents, supports protective policies, and engages communities to make responsible decisions, simple everyday choices, and well-informed lifestyle improvements to create healthy environments where children and families can flourish.

The theme is obviously PINK so come dressed in as much as you can find :)

*We will also be discussing the sign up details of the Nov. 7th- Susan G Komen 'Race for the Cure'!
Don't miss your chance to join Team Pamela!!!

Legoland fun

We took a tourist route and decided to visit Legoland yesterday. The price was a bit high at around $70 per ticket but luckily we had a buy one get one free admission coupon. My son Jude is almost 6 months old so he was stroller bound for most of the trip. He actually just started to go into the stroller without the car seat two weeks ago. This was an exciting transition because he gets so sweaty in the car seat and the stroller seat gives him a much better view. He is at such a weird age because he is technically not supposed to wear sunscreen yet so we have to cart him around like Micheal Jackson's kid, shielding him from the sun and the view of others. My husband and I spend most of our time dancing around the stroller pulling the shade down and trying to protect his sensitive little skin from the sun. I became so worried about it that I changed his clothes two times. The first outfit was long sleeved to protect his arms but he became too hot in it. The next outfit was a onesie but then I had to put some pants on him because his legs were being exposed. I was out of control and my husband was thoroughly annoyed with me. I know! I know!  This is me being a first-time mom and I will probably not even waste the energy with these types of things when baby number two makes an appearance in my life. But until then.........I will continue to stock up on the hand sanitizer and be a freak with the sun blocking. As for Legoland, I would recommend waiting until baby is walking. Jude looked around as much as he possibly could (despite being hovered over) but it would have been so much more fun if he could have gotten out of the stroller.  My husband, mother-in-law, and I were pretty impressed with the giant Lego statues and we look forward to returning when Jude gets a little older!

You gotta do what you love

I studied criminal justice in college with the ultimate goal of being some type of detective or police officer. I am not sure why but I wanted to have a dangerous job but I did.  This is certainly a far cry from my current job of teaching Stroller Strides classes to mommies! My son has changed my life in many ways but so far the most important thing he has helped me to realize is that you must do what you love! I made the difficult decision to give up my job and stay home with Jude about four months ago.  Well the truth is I think the only difficult thing about the decision was the loss of a second income. I hadn't even considered giving up my job until right before I was about to return from maternity leave. Something just clicked and a strong feeling came over me that said "BABY JUDE NEEDS YOU!" So I followed it and I am so happy I did! My husband was very nervous about how we would make it work financially and I just kept saying "Don't worry! It will work out." This was very unlike me because I am the cautious one that always plans everything out. We have made a lot of adjustments to make our new lifestyle work. We cut back our spending (by a lot),  got all my student loans deferred and created a strict budget. I often find myself stressed out by these new changes but during those times I remind myself that I am doing what I love! I have a new type of boss now, one who wakes me up early and wears very small pants. I also get to run my Stroller Strides business, teach fitness classes to moms and entertain babies which is so much fun!! I am so happy with where life has taken me that I do not regret trading in a gun for one that blows bubbles instead.

It's different when it's your kid

I would have never really imagined just how cool watching a baby is.  I used to babysit a lot as a young girl and I never found watching kids very interesting back then. Of course I was busy talking on the phone and trying to invite friends over instead of watching them but never mind that! I was seriously the town's most popular babysitter for a short time period (keep in mind it was a very small town). My phone was ringing off the hook for babysitting jobs until I got my first car. I was (of course) too good to babysit after that. In all my babysitting jobs there was never really an incident well besides this one time at my uncle's house. I was watching his two sons and they decided to get rowdy and fight over the remote. I got fed up and took the remote and decided to hide it on top of one of those tall stand up lamps. I just set it in there because it was high up out of their reach. A few minutes later the lamp started smoking! The remote had melted onto the light bulb. The boys called my uncle right away and reported what had happened. Lets just say I got off work early that night. I also stayed with my aunt on her farm for the entire summer after she had her first baby.  I was about twelve at the time and this is when I realized that a baby would be a lot of work! I heard the baby crying at all hours of the night and a lot of fighting between my aunt and her husband. I also folded endless piles laundry to help my aunt out. I am really thankful for these babysitting experiences because I am an only child and would not have been exposed to many babies and kids otherwise. I can look back now and really appreciate those memories instead of being annoyed that yet another family member wanted me to watch their damn kids!
 Everyone would say "it's different when it's your kid." My aunt always said this to me as she let her baby's drool drip on her face and as she wiped up the poop explosion from her baby's back. I was so grossed out at the time. Come to find out it is so true! Jude drools all over me and has had more poop explosions that I care to count but it doesn't phase me a bit. Things are so different when you have this little person in your life! When I watch my son learn things for the first time it is so amazing! I am giving myself goosebumps just typing about it. I love the way his face lights up when he finally figures out a toy or sees himself in a mirror. Everything is new to him and he appreciates all the little things. I look forward to watching Jude grow into a man and I know that someday I will be wishing he would be back in that car seat having a poop explosion I can clean up.

Cold dinners of the future

I can honestly say I haven't had a hot meal in awhile and no I am not homeless. I guess this is one of the joys of being a parent that is not mentioned in any of the lovely books I read while pregnant! Let me tell you that cold food somehow takes on this whole new life. Take last night for example, the shrimp was rubbery, pasta was a bit hard, and the green beans had serious shrinkage!  I guess we could take turns to prevent cold dinner. like my husband puts Jude to bed while I eat and then we switch out. I think we are trying to preserve just one thing we can still do together! Unfortunately, the result is a cold meal we end up complaining about. Well at least we can still do that together! Last night I pondered when would we have a warm meal again? I guess when Jude eats solid foods at the table with us- maybe? It is impossible to create a routine with my husband's schedule! He gets home at almost 7:00 pm and by this time is is bath and bed for Jude. I really don't think making dinner at 8:00pm is an option or we will both have low blood sugar by the time is was finished cooking. Plus that would make our time together a real treat! This must be why so many families turn to fast food and quick unhealthy choices! Is it bad that I am looking forward to the upcoming Mom's Night Out dinner  just for the hot food? Well that is not the only reason of course but it will be a nice change! I will continue my quest to establish a routine where warm dinners will again be possible! Until then I will try to embrace the green bean shrinkage.