Yesterday, I had one of those “this is motherhood” days.

For whatever reason (probably none at all), Mason woke up at 4:30 AM (!) and decided he was up for the day. He’s usually an awesome night sleeper, so this was completely out of the blue—not sick, not uncomfortable, not hungry/thirsty, clean diaper…

And it might have been ok if it didn’t mean that he was then desperately in need of a nap by 8:30, right as we were heading out the door to daycare. Ughh…

Here’s the other part that baffles me: some days, after a poor night of sleep, I’m somehow totally fine. Other days, I’m a moping pile of exhaustion and can’t recover all day long.

Guess what kind yesterday was!

On top of that, it was also a Thursday, which meant I had my prenatal class in the evening. Luckily, I’ve already learned that being a group exercise instructor is just like having any other job: you show up and get it done, regardless of how you feel. And turns out it’s even easier to shake off a funk when you’re in a high-energy workout environment!

It also didn’t hurt that we had perfect weather and a beautiful spot to work out in.

There’s a fabulous view of the city skyline behind those trees—which I tried hard to distract everyone with when we were a minute deep into some brutal arm circles. (I use the “go to your happy place” trick ALL the time with myself, and it totally works!)

Confession time: I included some burpees in last night’s workout and kind of regretted it. I could tell that the girls were struggling, and when I asked for feedback post-class, they all agreed that it’s just too cumbersome to get from a squat position to a push-up position with a big old belly in the way. Most of us are in our last month of pregnancy (and one girl is due next week!) so we’re definitely at the height of our preggo limitations, and feeling it!

Can’t wait to get this baby out and get back to my normal routine!

(I’m at the stage where I don’t even remember my stomach looking like that. )

I still think burpees are awesome, but there are definitely plenty of alternatives to choose from for prenatal exercise. We can all still do inchworms pretty comfortably, for example.

This weekend, I have another baby shower to go to, and Brent will be going to the “man shower” equivalent for the dad-to-be. I like this trend of guys getting baby showers (Brent’s friends threw him one for Mason and everyone had to bring diapers—we honestly didn’t buy a single diaper for months!) but it’s also totally unfair. In our experience, girl showers = low key games, snacks, gift openings. Guy showers = partying, drinking, “last hurrah” kind of stuff. The man shower Brent’s going to this weekend involves a day at the horse races, grilling out, and a night on the town.

Ladies, how can we step up our baby shower game?!

Is anyone else traveling this weekend? I know a lot of people are planning their last end-of-summer trips. If that’s you, here’s something to take with you!

(Tip: if you don’t have a clock/timer available, just hum Twinkle Twinkle Little Star 3 times at  a moderate pace. That’ll put you at around a minute—plus, it’s a nice distraction!)

I actually sent a variation of this workout to my prenatal girls over the 4th of July, since we skipped our weekly class for the holiday. I was so proud when most of them came back saying they’d tried it!

I’d love to know if you give it a shot!

Notes:

• A double-under is when you’re jumping rope and you swing the rope over twice in one jump. Faking it just involves doing bigger jumps than you would for regular jump roping.
• 20 push-ups is a lot! But you can do it. You can always modify to minis: on your knees and/or only going up and down 1-2 inches.

Have a great weekend!

xoxo

Kim

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