Hey guys!! SO - I've realized lately that the only things I really post about are my family… mainly my kids. Obviously my children are my world, and I love to talk about them and share about how they are doing. That being said, Charley is now a little over 6 months, and Jackson is coming up on 18 months! For the first time since they've been born, I have really been going out of my way to make some extra time for me and my goals.

Lately, that goal has been to challenge myself physically, and to invest more time and energy into getting fit and being healthy. For a long time I have wanted to get fit…. I'm not talking lose 10 pounds here… I'm talking gain muscle and be in tip top shape… get ripped! A lot of my friends/acquaintances have been training for bikini competitions, and lately that has totally caught my interest. I thought to myself: "Man, I wish I could do that." Then it came to me…. well why can't I? I love a challenge and to have a goal to work towards… so I enlisted the help of a coach. Today is day 6 of my new fitness journey, and I am very excited about what's to come! I am committed to a 12 week program that combines diet and exercise, and my coach will be switching up my meals and workouts every couple of weeks. 

I am not yet ready to post my "before" pictures…. but by the end of these 12 weeks I think I will be able to share them to show the progress I've made. So far I am feeling GREAT… super energized, determined, and lighter (even if only by 1.5 pounds… it's something right?) I currently am doing fasted cardio 5 mornings per week for 50 minutes, and weight training 3-4 days per week. My diet has also been cleaned up quite a bit, and I have began meal prepping for the first time in my life. Can I just say how amazing is it to have lunch and dinner ready to go, and not have to put any thought into it? I LOVE the convenience of them… especially when I am scrambling to make hubby and kids meals. 

Below is an example of one of my leg workouts, and also a photo of me in my new LuluLemon outfit that I treated myself to as a tribute/cheers to my new fitness journey!!! CHEERS! Let the next 12 weeks be kind and life-changing for me! 

Jacks & Char

I know I post a MILLION photos of them on Instagram and Facebook. What can I say.... I am a proud momma!!! I do hold back... believe it or not!! If I posted every single picture that I thought was cute of the both of them.... people would be un-friending me for sure! ANYWAYS - my point is.... Charley turned 5 months on October 18th - I am still in shock about this!! Every time I blink something new is happening and she is becoming less and less of an infant and more and more of a little human, like her brother. Jackson is 16 months, and is changing BY THE DAY. This kid never ceases to amaze me.

Last night we had a dinner party at my parents so the kids were up later than usual. We came home to put the kids to bed, and so Jackson and I were in his room, playing with his dirtbike, drinking a sippy cup. He was super playful, so I was dreading putting him in the crib and putting an end to playtime. I picked him up, laid him down in his crib and said "goodnight Jackson, I love you!" The kid looked up at me with his blanket pulled up to his chin and said "Nigh nigh, mommy." OH. MY. GOD. I died a little inside.... from sweetness. HE IS PERFECT! He is the sweetest little munchkin ever, but such a boy! He withholds his sweetness most of the time - and knows how much he's torturing me. I ask him for kisses, and he gets a huge smile on his face and starts shaking his head no! And speaking of no.... that's the favorite word lately, except it's said with the sweetest little chipmunk voice. I can't even handle it.

In a nutshell: I LOVE MY KIDS! And they are growing FAST! Love them to tiny little pieces. <3

Disneyland!!!!

It's been about 5 months since I've posted anything, which may have something to do with the fact that I have TWO babies UNDER TWO now.... yeah - I think that's it! Anyways, considering its 6:00am on a Sunday, I figured it would be safe to get a little blogging in!

This last weekend, Bryan and I took Jackson (16 months) on his first Disneyland trip! Bryan and I had not been to Disneyland in over 20 years, so it kind of seemed like the first time again for us too.... so fun! We were able to leave Charley at home with my mom and dad, and give Jackson our undivided attention. The little man was a TROOPER! I mean we are talking 13 hour days inside the park, and not a peep from this dude. I think he was in shock! Haha! He would close his eyes for about 10 minutes in the stroller here and there, but then would wake back up ready to go again in full force. We took him on about 15 rides, including Pirates of the Carribean, The Haunted Mansion done up Tim Burton style, Finding Nemo submarine, and It's A Small World - which he actually chose to take a nap during. SUCH an amazing trip.

We hit the grocery store first thing when we got there because I was nervous about all of the food options for Jackson.... and I have to say that was definitely a smart move. Disneyland is loaded with crap and sweets - just as one would expect it to be. While Jackson noshed on grapes and strawberries, I hit the Haagen Daaz booth HARD.... and I am NOT ashamed. It was well worth every delicious bite!

WALKING..... we did a TON of that! I was curious to see just how much walking we were doing, so I threw my Fitbit on to track our steps. On the first day it reported that we took 23,000 steps.... that's roughly 12 miles.... and that was one of our shortest days there!!!

Needless to say, we all had a blast. Bryan and I were able to utilize the Rider Swap program... in which one parent waited in the singles line for the ride while the other waited with Jackson, and then when the first parent finished on the ride, they brought out a red tag for the other parent which they give to you at the front, and that parent can then walk directly to the front of the line (sometimes up through the exit)! SO worth it ! We were able to go on some of the rollercoasters that we wanted to ride without Jackson, and only ended up waiting 10-15 minutes for the other one to finish.

All in all we had an amazing Disneyland trip! Bryan is eager to get back there ASAP.... and I am thinking maybe once Charley is Jackson's age, then we will brave the crowds and get back there - on a weekday preferably =)

Charley Rose Merk

Baby girl Charley Rose Merk 6 lbs 14 oz, 19.5 inches long. Born May 16th 2013 at 12:56am

Welp - it's official.... our precious baby girl Charley is HERE! We weren't supposed to meet her until June 1st, but she decided to bless us with her presence on May 16th at 12:56 am.

For those of you who know me and were keeping up with how my pregnancy was going, I was just about DONE at 37 weeks. I donno about you - but with my 2nd pregnancy, towards the end, things seemed WAY different. With Jackson I didn't have the aches and pains you read about.... but with Charley my lower back started aching, my knees hurt, and I just could not get comfortable. I literally was moaning and groaning the last 2 weeks. That being said - I was DESPERATE to encourage the little girl to come out early. I tried a number of things, including but not limited to:

• Prego Pizza (can be found at Skipolini's Pizza in Walnut Creek) - we ordered the same kind at Jake's in Willow Glenn with a few friends the Saturday before she came. 
• WALKING - we are talking 10 miles per day people. I have a little obsession with this device called Fitbit, and towards the end I was aiming for upwards of 20,000 steps a day. Crazy. I know. 
• Mineral Oil - will not go into details about that one. Gross. 
• Eggplant Parmesan
• Evening Primrose oil and Black Cohosh tablets from Whole foods. 
• Jumping Jacks - have a video to prove this one! haha
• VIDEO
• Sweeping of the membranes (performed 3 times by my doctor, spaced out 48 hours apart. The last one she did was Wednesday morning at 11:00am)
• Acupuncture - I went and visited Mr. Frank He  in Sunnyvale. I told him that I was almost 38 weeks pregnant and was looking for some "relief" and to be able to relax so the baby would come soon.... he told me he would start with just some general needles spread over my body in the places that were bothering me, and that if I really wanted to coax Charley out, to come back on Friday, and we could do the real deal to try and help get things moving. He finished me off with a nice foot massage - and I was on my way. (This was Wednesday May 15th). 
• Mani/pedi - my last stop on my way from the acupuncture place - when I started feeling contractions. 

So - the big question is: what came first - the chicken or the egg? Was it the acupuncture with foot massage that set me off into labor at 37 weeks 4 days, the membrane sweep Wednesday morning, or was little Charley girl just ready to meet us? I will never know - but I am sure that next time I am pregnant and desperate, I will not be hesitating to run down to Frank He's office for some acupuncture. Just sayin'!

Wedding Plannin'.....

Since it has been quite some time since I have been able to sit down and update the world on the Mendez-Merk world.... I guess I failed to mention our engagement, and the fact that we are getting married on August 30th of 2014 - not only is this Labor Day weekend, but it is also Bryan's 28th birthday... he not only gets the best birthday present ever (ME - lol!!) but he SHOULDN'T ever forget our wedding anniversary. Big bonus for him... haha! BIG NEWS! <3 That being said... we are trying to get a huge majority of our planning done before sweet little Charley blesses us with her presence....

Being that this is the first (and only) wedding I have had to plan... I really had no idea how much was actually involved and what went into creating a wedding. It's a LOT of work with TONS of details. As soon as I started looking through some of the materials and got a better idea of all the work that this would entail, I started to panic a little.... and was not quite sure how all of this would be possible for me with two babies to take care of.

SO.....

I decided that planning a wedding with two babies under two would be easiest with a little help, so I found superstar Lauren Geissler from Downey Street Events to help me get the job done. Best decision EVER. Lauren is probably one of the most organized people I have ever met. She has all sorts of cool spreadsheets and lists made for us already... did I mention I LOVE lists? Obsessed! Organization is one of my favorite hobbies. So much fun. When I saw the Work Flow spreadsheet for our wedding I just about died and went to heaven! 

Lauren came out and did a site visit at our barn last week, and got to see how beautiful it is in person! It was unreal watching her and the team measure out our aisle in front of the barn up the main walkway.... it really started to set in for me that we are actually getting married at our beautiful barn.... in a little over a year!!!!! So crazy, and so exciting. There are still TONS of details to be worked out, but we have nailed down the photographer we are going to be using: Encarnacion Photography - we are super excited about husband and wife team Joanne and Jonathan! We had one cake tasting with Studio Cake and one catering tasting, but have not settled on either of those yet. We have a big catering tasting coming up at the end of April, in which we are able to bring 8 of our friends and make it into a fun night out for everyone... which we are also really excited about! The other big vendor - which is for setting up a tent out at the barn - is also something we are working on, but are not decided on yet. There are of course many other details and decisions to be made... what with me being a BIG planner and all... and baby Charley coming in June... I was hoping to have most of the big decisions and vendors nailed down before her arrival. I will of course have lots to do after, but a head start never hurt anyone! 

I have been having lots of fun collecting things for the wedding that I see along the way in my everyday path - random antique shops in Los Gatos, bakeries in Los Altos, florist shops in Burlingame, etc. The wedding will definitely be unique and have lots of fun, personal touches to it... I can't wait to see it all come together on the big day. 

I have also been working on our wedding website, which has been something fun to chip away at when I'm relaxing in bed in the evenings.

Anyways... there are tons of details to report on, and I am sure I will have much more to share once we get closer and start really getting into the planning. But so far, it has been a lot of stress-free fun for me and Bryan and my family, and we just can't wait for our wedding day to hurry up and get here! 

Chew Beads - mommy chic, baby safe.....

My new obsession!!! CHEW BEADS for mommys! I bought myself a ChewBeads necklace yesterday while shopping for shoes in downtown Los Gatos.... and I cannot stress how much i LOVE their cute little invention! They are stylish, colorful necklaces and bracelets for mom's, and they are perfect little teethers for babies! They are BPA free and have no detachable parts... totally baby safe!! They are obviously made just for babies - as soon as I put mine on, Jacksy was chompin' away and happy as a clam. These would make a great gift for a new mama!

Jackson with my ChewBeads necklace on our walk this morning =)

You can visit them here:

http://www.chewbeads.com/

Going on 33 weeks and back from Hawaii!

Well... the time definitely flies when you are having fun... haha! I will say that my doctor (Sarah Azad) had "warned" me that when Jackson got to be about 9 months, Bryan and I might start second-guessing our decision to have a second baby so soon. I WON'T say that we are second-guessing anything - because we are so excited and thrilled to have little Charley coming soon - but we are definitely beginning to see how much work having the little man really is.... he's so active and curious and fun and exploring everything! He's at the stage where he just wants to constantly be on the go - he does not want to sit - yet he is not yet fully crawling or walking. He has his army crawl and his roll down to a t, and somehow is capable of moving from point A to point B in the blink of an eye. Can't turn your back on the little one for more than a second! He is having so much fun, and has been such a great, loving baby.

We took our first family vacation together to Kaanapali, Maui, and it was a blast. Jackson spent most of his time floating in the pools at our condo, and on nice long beach walks with his mom and dad. Turns out Jacksy is a pretty great traveller, and does pretty well on an airplane (he must remember flying to London at 8 weeks for his auntie's graduation!).

I had my 32 week check-up for Charley yesterday, and all is well. We are all registered and ready to go for round 2 at El Camino Hospital. Dr. Azad informed me that labor this time will likely be pretty fast, not only because it is my second pregnancy, but because my pregnancies have been so close together - my uterus is still in "go" mode - SO that's exciting! I asked her if she thought little Charley would be early, and she said it's hard to tell just yet, but that we can "negotiate" that as we get closer! Of course I have been dissecting that comment in my mind since she said it..... !!! Haha!

My weight gain is on track - in fact I have gained the same amount of weight that I did with the first pregnancy - except I gained all of it up front last time, and just started packing it on this time. Looks like I will probably be in the 30-35 range again this time, which I am OK with.... I just can't wait to meet my Charley girl, and give my body a well-deserved break! Being pregnant for practically two years in a row has not been the easiest task, but I think I have managed pretty well!

In a nutshell.... Bryan, Jackson, Charley, and I are all healthy and doing well! We are getting excited for the warmer weather and summer to get here, and of course for little Charley babe to arrive as well. My mom and sister are throwing a baby shower for Charley in a couple weeks.... and I think once we get through that, things will be moving a lot more quickly! She will be here before we know it!!

XOXO,

Mel

What's in a name.....

Well - we are quickly approaching February, which means we are getting VERY close to June.... which means the new baby girl will be here in just FOUR SHORT MONTHS! I still can't believe it when I say it out loud. Bryan and I are still adjusting to life with baby Jackson. He is a wonderful, amazingly cute, precocious, sweet, loving little angel.... 99% of the time. He has been going through the teething phase lately, and while he has handled it ever so graciously most of the time, last night was a new experience for us. We saw a side of Jackson that we had never seen before.... it was head-spinning, exorcist-like craziness. The kid must have been in so much pain - screaming, crying, laughing, biting, throwing himself around.... ! All I can say is poor baby - and damn I'm tired today. BUT we made it through last night, and I'm sure we will have many more of those to come. Aside from the teething, Jackson is doing so well, and is such a bright and happy little man. Since we have been so busy with him, my pregnancy has been flying by right before my eyes. 

This week marks 23 weeks.... headed into 24. I have been feeling great and healthy, and have had practically no sickness.... just some exhaustion. Work, school, and Jackson have all kept me pretty busy and preoccupied, which actually is great. It was agonizing sitting around and counting down the days to wait for little Jacksy to get here!

Now that we are at about 6 months, and have had some time to think, we have decided on a name. I have always loved this name and known I wanted to use it for one of my babies, but had been a little unsure on the spelling. I had originally thought of spelling it Charleigh - but then thought maybe it would be too complicated for a little girl to spell, and then people would always butcher it when pronouncing it and spelling it. And then what if people call her Sir on the phone because they automatically assume Charley is a man?! Well.... CharlEY makes it a little more feminine than CharlIE, but is not as complicated as CharLEIGH. Thus we have.......

CHARLEY ROSE MERK

a beautiful name for a beautiful little girl angel.... and we can't wait to meet her! So there it is! Charley!!! <3