Throwdown Moments 2014

1. Getting to see people in action that I don't normally workout with & meeting new friends. 

2. Jarrett saving my life (and our time in the 3rd WOD) by telling me to stop doing burpees to set up the guys bar. 

3. Feeling really nervous when Sarah looked at me & said "155 next?" on OHS, thinking there's no way & then actually hitting it!

4. Santi running up to me after the first WOD to give me a hug & stopping because, "ew mama all wet". Then proceeding to try to steal a stranger's towel to wipe me off. 

5. Awesome teammates who are so supportive & encouraging. Travis who beasted 275! Derek who couldn't have possibly put any more heart into the last WOD...esp the last row and especially Sarah who is my perfect cf partner because she balances me, pushes me & most of all doesn't complain about my sucky cardio. 

6.  Having a husband who supports my addiction not only by hanging with Santi all day while I'm competing, but coming to cheer us on!

7.  When I was hating the run and Michelle ran alongside me, was so encouraging & made me push a little harder even though we were competing against each other in that moment. 

8. Friends in town from Canton with a million things to do who came to watch & cheer for me. You are the best, Millers!

9. When 4 people including myself thought my team didn't have a heat assignment for the last workout, until Emily pointed put we were clearly on the sheet right in front of my face. 

10.  The fact that post competition dinner is always some excessive splurge. This time, Keystone Mac n Cheese, buffalo chicken & fries. Mmmmmm!

11. When everyone posts on FB about conquering fears, making PRs, being proud of their team, their efforts & all in all a really great gym and community that we are fortunate enough to be part of!

12. Post competition shenanigans trying to stay out of the sun!

Love the Cov!

Hilton Head, Ohio

Everyone that goes to HHI is from Ohio. That means that when you leave the island, everyone else is going the same direction as you and it will take >13 hours to get home. Not so awesome. 

Know what was awesome? This vacation. By far my favorite Guerra family beach vaca yet & I think it will only get better. A quick recap through Santi's eyes. 

Mmm jelly! My mom usually puts this on a soft piece of cardboard with crushed "peanut butter" (yah, I'm onto you. I know you don't give me the good stuff & you go all whole foodie on me). Wonder if she'll let me eat jelly out of the jar when we're not on vaca?

Ready?

Set. 

Cannonball!! These fools thought they'd be able to relax by the pool.  Ha! I had different plans & it involved constant chaos & minor heart failure!

I flied like Superman!

Speaking of chaos-this is how they had to lock me in my room at night. You'd think I'm prone to escaping or climbing or being rambunctious or something?! Give a toddler a break! Did they think I was gonna sneak out to meet a girl?

They finally remembered that ice cream will stop my meltdowns. Sometimes I bring them on in public when I'm in the mood for Ben & Jerry's. It helps jog their memory. 

I got to be a pirate for a night! Too bad my parents were too cheap to buy me a sword because I already had one. I just had to go all Pirate on some kid & steal his. 

All hands on deck is the pirate version of keep your hands to yourself. I'm not falling for their lies. 

Dang I'm cute!

This is me raising the "Jolly Rancher". 

We saw dolphins on the pirate ship too! I thought pirates had parrots, but whatever. 

We got to hang with my buddies Hayden, Hadley & Hunter. They live close, but I guess we need to drive far away to see them? You'd think the big people could figure out a better plan. Either way, it was awesome and I'm glad I got to see them!

My first pony ride!! Her name was cookie. I like cookies. Especially Oreos. Cookie is the same colors as an Ore....ooooo I get it now!

There was a little girl at the pool who had a crush on me, so she let me play with her lizard. I named him. I call him Keith. Obviously. 

Practicing my chopstick skills at the Hibachi Grill. I bet the other family of big people at our table felt silly when we were both using training chopsticks. 

Next to last day & Mama finally brings me to the "big pool". All week I've been calling the other pool, big pool. The big people have really been holding out on me. So unfair!! 

Mom is so paranoid. She wouldn't take her hands off of me in the big pool. Can a toddler get some personal space? Geesh!

This one just because I'm really stinkin cute. 

Of 92 flavors at Frozen Moo Mama got me her favorite, chocolate and PB. Guess she thought I wouldn't eat it all & she could finish it. Sucka!!! WRONG! Did she forget that I'm her kid? It's my fave too! I licked the bowl. Then tried to eat the styrofoam. 

Me & the ladies!

This is Jake, The Salty Dog & my BFF. 

Sometimes a toddler just needs some "me" time to clear his head. 

Making wishes for unlimited milk, to be potty trained by 3 & to have a safe drive home. 

Welcome to the gun show.  Dada says we're showing off, but I say...well, yes, he's right. 

We finished the last night at the Greg Russell show. He sang silly songs, made jokes that only the big people laughed at & let some little people come up on stage to sing. I'm already thinking about what my sign should say next year when we go back so he'll pick me to sing!

Before bed on the last night Dada  and I sang Ants Go Marching and Booger in the Sugar a million times & it was so much fun! 

Vacation might be over, but I'm still a pirate...right?! 

Stitch Fix Review

I would have kept everything! Except my husband, because if I kept everything he may have left. 

Just so we're clear, I didn't keep everything so I got to keep my husband. Clear? Ok moving on. 

Do you know what Stitch Fix is? 

It's an affordable online personal styling service. And it's amazing.

You tell them your sizes, style preferences, answer questions about what you like to show off/cover up, look at some outfits say "yah" or "nay", link to a style Pinterest Board and write anything you'd like your stylist to know. I wrote about how I can't buy jeans because of the "Crossfit Booty Gap".  Yes, it's totally a real thing.  Ask any girl who squats.  A lot.  It's when jeans are suctioned to your thighs/booty but 3 sizes too big in your waist. 

Anyway, that's Stitch Fix.

You schedule your delivery. This is one of the few cons. It takes ~a month and if you're like me, you're so excited you're counting down the days. 

You receive a box of 5 items, try on, decide what you want to keep and then check out online. 

When you check out you give feedback on fit, style etc so your dealer stylist can improve on their next fix selections. 

Take a look at what I was sent, tried and ultimately kept. Overall, I had an amazing experience & can't wait to get my next fix!! You can get yours by going here.

I have to say, I was beyond impressed.  First of all, everything fit perfectly. I don't know how she did it, but that sold me immediately. 

The hardest thing about this whole process was trying to take the "selfies".  I don't know how people are so good at them?!  There have to be pro-selfie-ers out there.  My husband was watching me struggle to take the pictures instead of helping me & I asked how people took such great shots.  His response?  Practice.  I guess that was my clue to continue practicing vs. offering to help.

And onto the main events...

$48 Coral Polka Dot Blouse

Pros:  Great color, decent price, good fit

Cons:  None really, just not super exciting

Stash or Trash:  Trash

It's all in the details:

$58 Criss-Cross Tank Blouse

Pros: amazing fit, enhances arms, longer in back for an easy match to shorts or skinny jeans

Cons: no bra (if that bothers you)

Stash or Trash: Stash!

$48 Navy Embroidered Tank

Pros: high quality embroidering, super soft material, great fit with fancy back

Cons: feel like I could find a cheaper version at TJ Maxx if I really wanted it, a bra might be tricky

Stash or Trash: Trash

The said fancy back. 

In all of the pics above I'm wearing a pair of jeans they sent me. Kensie sexy fit, skinny jeans. 

One word. Magical. 

It's almost impossible for me to find jeans because of my booty to waist ratio, as explained by the Crossfit Booty Gap. These fit like a glove on every inch of my body. I think I may look for them online & buy them in every possible color. No. Scratch that. 2 pair in every color. 

$88 Kensie Denim 

Pros: See above. They fit & they're affordable for a great pair of denim. Need I say more?

Cons: They only sent one pair

Stash or Trash: STASH!!!!!!

$88 Navy Chevron Maxi Dress

Pros: super soft, great fit, perfect length with wedges OR flats (not sure how that's possible!)

Cons: Kinda boring & could probably 5 different girls wearing the same or similar dress today at the mall, too expensive for being boring

Stash or Trash: Trash

I kept 2 and sent back 3. I threw those 3 items in this prepaid postage bag, sealed and put it in my mailbox with the flag up. That simple!

For my next fix I told my dealer stylist to send something fancy and/or scandalous for our girls' Chicago trip. Let's see what fun she can scope out for me!

Have you tried Stitch Fix yet? What's holding you back?! Give it a shot using my link below. My experience has been so much fun & an overall win...Can't wait for the next hit!

Try Stitch Fix As my Referral! 

Put 'Em In and Take 'Em Out

We have a baby that's always snored, practically since day 1. He's always drooled, even when there are no teeth poking through. He's always sounded congested to the point that people (my mom) are frequently asking, "does Santi have a cold?" We basically have our very own Benjamin Button...except much cuter. 

Not happy about his anklets:

In the past 6 weeks he's had 4 ear infections. I think we were at the point the antibiotics were saying, "FU I'm done working overtime" and we saw a specialist (ENT) to find out what to do about it. 

"Tubes in. Tonsils & adenoids out. He is not a borderline case." So here we are puttin' 'em in & takin' 'em out. 

Dear Lord-thank you for giving me such a decisive, straight forward surgeon. There is nothing worse than having to decide whether to put your baby through the misery of surgery if it's not absolutely, 100% medically necessary. We had that experience with the last ENT. "Weeeeeellll, we could do tubes but it would be more for convenience."  Convenience? I'm not looking for someone to pick up my dry cleaning. No thank you. 

No one ever mentioned the huge TandA before we saw a speech therapist. (Btw that TandA stands for tonsils and adenoids-recover your mind from the gutter it's fallen into.). She was the one who discovered them  and suggested we look into it further with a specialist. 

Superman traded in his cape for a gown:

We saw the surgeon for a consult on Friday and were out of surgery the next Thursday morning. The surgeon was wonderful. She was thorough, warm & very direct when it came to her care/recovery expectations. 

She reminded me of a woman I worked with at the GC in Pittsburgh. We all called her KZ. She was warm, but thorough. She was nice but would let you know if served your soup from the left instead of the right. It was comforting to draw that comparison. 

The thing that made me feel most at peace after knowing Santi did well, was coming back to recovery seeing a nurse rocking & cuddling my baby just as I would have. She was holding him tight with her head resting against his. There is nothing more comforting as a Mama than to know that someone is treating him just as you would when you're not there. 

Thank you rocking nurse, Dr. Schott & Children's Hospital for taking such good care of my baby before I got to be with him. 

...And for the choo-choos. There may have been major meltdowns instead of minor ones this morning if we hadn't had the brand new choo-choos to play with!

He only asked for milk 60-70 times WITH the choo-choos:

So far so good. Look for the next post on being cooped up in the house for a week with a rambunctious recovering toddler! It  could get interesting. 

The best advice I've received so far is from my friend Shelley, who's son went through the same thing at the same age:

"You'll need lots of fluids for recovery. Water for him. Wine for you." Cheers to that!

Thankful to be his Mama

A few of my favorite moments to remember forever...

Mother's Day started Thursday at 7:30am with flowers on my desk at work. First time getting flowers at work. I was impressed!! 

1

Friday at school they hosted "Muffins with Mom" or "muffin tops for the kids" was probably a better title since I'm not sure I saw 1 mom eat a muffin (maybe in fear of a muffin top), and the kids only ate the tops. 

Then there was the Mahogany card. Hilarious & beautiful all at the same 

Brunch at Virgil's which is a local & family owned restaurant close by with great food. When we were seated we learned that the high chair at our table for Santi is from the owners home. He asked his wife if it was ok to bring it in for Mother's Day (anticipating a lot of kids) & she told her husband it was the only thing she has left from when the kids were little. She shared it anyway. How brave of her to do so, but it made me happy that we were supporting the business of a very generous & good hearted family. 

Bribing a 2 yo for the perfect photo isn't something we'd tried before, but it worked. "No cheese" is usually the line Santi gives when you try to take his picture.  Not when you bribe him though!

Every year so far we've taken both Mother's & Father's Day pics in the same location to see how much things change over the years.  Santi just looks a little thinner than last year with more hair & me with less. 

After nap we played outside until it was time for (another) bath. Sunshine & fresh air made for the perfect day. 

A quiet 2 yo + bottle of sunscreen = the product of having a sunscreen nazi as your Mama. 

Sprinkler battle. We learned in Vegas how entertaining a sprinkler can be for a toddler. Today Santi and I chased each other with the sprinkler. He laughed hysterically...so did I. 

Neighborhood boys running around the cul de sac, water gun fights, made up basketball rules & big kids looking out for little kids. 

Pizza for dinner outside in pop up chairs. I'm not sure how much the neighbors appreciate the use of pop up chairs in the driveway...especially on Mothers Day...and when they have company, but it was exactly what we needed for our Mother's Day pizza dinner outside. Good thing the neighbors are some of our best friends...well, hopefully they still are after today. 

Recapping the entire day with Santi before bedtime. We went through everything we'd done the entire day & when I asked him what his favorite part was, his response couldn't have been better... "Mama"

He's right. Mamas make everything better. Love you, Ma!