Working out and getting fit

Well, this will be a picture less post. Last Summer when I was 7 months pregnant I taught two dance camps to Lincoln Jr. High and High school pom squads. I get to again teach the Jr. High, but this time they will be taking my dances to competition. I am not in very good physical shape to keep up with 20 14 and 15 year olds so as of 4 days ago I started my new workout plan. I've done several over the years......you know what I'm talking about, ordering them off of the tv or internet also along with doing fad diets. Well, having a baby has put alot into perspective for me. There is no such thing as dieting it's just a lifestyle change that you have to be committed to.

For me that entails no meat or tomatoes and to cut out cokes and super sweets as much as possible. Along with this I am trying to maintain powerwalking/jogging with Piper 2-6 miles every day. I also found a great hip hop basic workout video at Walmart for $10 that is part of a 10 minute solution series. I do 2 workouts every other day along with the walking. I love this plan that I've created because lifting weights is not my thing. On the plus side of the dvds Piper will watch me and jump like crazy in her jumperoo so she's getting some great exercise too. I am hoping that by the end of 3 more weeks I will be in the best shape of my life for the long term. I miss teaching dance and I really want to get back into doing it so I gave myself 4 weeks total.

This plan for me is not to lose weight, but to tone up and get in shape. I don't care how much I weigh or what size my clothes are. Most women are so afraid or ashamed to say what size they are or how much they weigh......well I am not one of those women. I weigh 161 pounds and I wear a size 12 in most brands. I used to be 140 and wear a size 4/6. I will never be that size again because having a baby has really changed my body and I'm proud to be of a larger size. Too many women get so caught up with what the world says that we should look like......well I'm not part of that group anymore. I am now going without makeup most days and I'm growing my hair out to it's natural color....GREY!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's all for now......

6 Month Madness

Well, Piper has now reached the ripe age of 6 months. Let me first start off by saying "WOW, time sure does fly when you're having fun!". I can't believe that she's already 6 months old. It seems just like yesterday that she was just born. I can truely say that motherhoold really suits me. I look good covered in greenbeans....HAHAHAHA! Well, Piper loves to eat Barley cereal in the morning, greenbeans for lunch, and greenbeans for dinner. That is all the girl ever wants to eat. I have to mix EVERYTHING with greenbeans just to get a little bit of a variety in her diet. She's so funny because she wants things done her way and she knows that I will ablige her. She even crawls her own way.....she gets up on all 4s and then nose dives and continues to do so until she reaches her destination. She would just much rather get up and walk there or dance to her point of interest. I've had a couple of rough nights the past 2 weeks where she will wake up from sudden intense teething pain that I have to comfort her by snuggling up together. The past 2 nights she has gone to sleep in her own bed and woken up in her own bed at dawn so I'm hoping that it sticks for a while. We had her 6 month shots today and she did great! She weighs 15 pounds 1 ounce and is 26 1/2 inches long.
She is already practicing good oral hygiene....too bad it's her hairbrush (yes the brush was clean and sanitized).
Here is her trying something other than greenbeans.

This was April 24, 2010 and Piper tried to crawl for the very first time.

Her guilty face from naptime.

This was her 6 month birthday present.....her Precious Planet Jumperoo. She loves it, but only at about 10 - 20 minutes at a time.

Piper is just such a joy to have in my life. I'm thankful everyday to be her mother. She made my first Mother's Day great! I know when she gets older that she will get embarrassed by me, will want nothing to do with me, and may even hate me for a split second, but there is one thing that she will never be able to say.....that I didn't love her. She will always know that her mother loves her and I hope to have the relationship with her as an adult that I do with my own mother.

Spring Fun

This post is just a little bit of what's going on in the Stiles' household.
Piper is sitting up really well at 5 1/2 months old. She can now sit up unsupported for 30 minutes or until she gets super excited. She is really into banging her toys on hard surfaces because she's used to me stomping around the house to make her happy (noise wise). She has such a personality.


This picture was on our way to a baby shower for me sweet friend Amanda. I made her 2 custom ladybug paintings for the nursery and completely forgot to take pictures.
Piper is telling me to stop with the pictures...HA!


I love this picture. She has so many sunglasses that do not fit her yet, but I finally found these at the local dollar store for $3! I love being such a great bargain hunter. This same day my mom (GG) and I took Piper to a local consignment event called Junebug Reruns. We spent $50 and got a lot of great stuff for when she's 18-24 months. Then yesterday we took our bi-weekly trip to Walmart and got some sweatpants, capri leggins, t-shirts, shorts, and a cute skort all 18-24 month each for $1. I saved overall a total of $20. We are going back again at the end of the week to get some more.

Well, this is the finished dress. I didn't get a good picture of Piper in it on Saturday just what you see in the above 2 pictures. I get some more this week and try to post them. I am also going to begin making a few more dresses and lap quilts for Piper because at the end of this August I'll be getting involved with a handmade craft fair and selling my custom paintings for nurseries/children's room, trip to grandma's bags, lap quilts, and dresses. I'm going to be so busy the rest of the Spring and throughout the Summer with these projects all while maintaining my house, my marriage, being a mom, and going to school. WOW!

Sewing and Easter

Well, this was Piper's first Easter and I believe that she enjoyed it. The Easter Bunny brought her some great stuff and NO CANDY! Lord knows that I don't need to be eating it.

Check out this gorgeous face! I love how long and curly her eyelashes are. She looks so good in pink and yellow!

This is the first article of clothing I'm working on for Piper. I still have to add the buttons and sew on some lace trim.

This is the first thing that I have ever sewn by a machine and it turned out great! IT's a stroller blanket just in time for Spring!

Pretty in Pink

Well this post is just filled with some of my favorite pics of Piper from being 5 months old. She is only 5 months old, but she seems so much older because she is so independant and outgoing and always ready to go and do something new.

Please enjoy these photos.

She is now always posing for me since she can sit up on her own. She has the cutest grin. I"m not a big fan of all pink for little girls, but Piper just looks so good in it that I now can't resist an all pink outfit for her!

Crafts and teething

Well, Piper has finally slept good. I only had to get up with her twice last night to flip her back to her tummy so she could sleep some more. Tonight she went down pretty easy and so far is sleeping soundly. Poor little girl has been teething really bad for the past 2 weeks. You can actually feel her 4 bottom front teeth. She has been a pretty good sport about it though. They just hurt really bad when she gets tired and with this crazy weather her allergies have been all over the map so she is ALWAYS sleepy. She is not a napper and over these past 2 weeks she has been taking like 5 hours worth of naps almost every day.

I am starting to get back into crafting and I have so many projects going all at once. I really need to get one completed before I start on another.


These 2 pictures are some custom paintings that I have done

for 2 little boys' nurseries. I'm currently working on 2 more sets for other nurseries. I have finally started my own little hobby business....YAY!

I love being able to be crafty and actually be decent at it. The tutu in the first picture is so huge that it would fit most 2 year olds so I am taking it apart to make matching ones for Piper and my friend Amanda's soon to be here daughter, Brooklyn. I am also currently working on making a dress for Piper and a matching stroller blanket. Hopefully they will be done by this Wednesday. If I am successful I will post pictures. Well, Piper has been in bed for 30 minutes so that's where her daddy and I are headed as well.

TOES!!!!!!! and 5 months old

Well, Piper has officially found her toes and is rolling over constantly. For the past 2 weeks she has been waking herself up every 15 to 40 minutes from 2 am until 6 or 6:30 in the morning....no matter what time she goes down for bed at night. She has so much personality that it just seems impossible that she's only 5 months old. Here is what she's up to these days:

-She likes to feed herself (I balance the bottle while she tries to hold it).
-She is now in size 3 diapers (cruisers)
-She wants to crawl so bad that she can taste it.
-She is a rolly polly
-and a weeble woble who loves to stand as much as she loves her daddy (which is a bunch)
-She sure does have a temper on her....she wants things to be done a certain way.
-She only says ma-ma when she's mad or really tired

-She loves to have her picture taken.

-She gets about 45-50 ounces of breastmilk everyday (yes, I'm still pumping every single day every 3-4 hours)

-She sleeps from when her head hits the mattress until 2 and then it's a battle to stay asleep.

-She takes a 2-3 hour nap in the earlier part of the day and takes 2 40 minute naps later in the day to make up for lost sleep.

-She is wearing 6-9 month clothes

-She smiles all the time

-She likes to bite mommy and daddy's thumbs and forearms

-She still doesn't really like the binky very much, she just prefers her fingers

-She is an early riser and a night owl all rolled into one

-She's the greatest accomplishment of my life!

This little angel has stolen my heart and all of my families' as well.

She is just so darn pretty and I love that she got my mother's skin color.....Portuguese/Italian.