Up first: Deep cleaning the fridge! Yep, that was our rockin’ Friday night in a nutshell, my friends. We picked up a big cheese pizza, flipped on some Planet Earth and went to town on our fridge. And they say romance is dead after kids!
Because I am the kind of person who could look at Before/After photos for hours, here is our fridge BEFORE:
And here’s the AFTER:
(The after photo also includes some food we picked up to get us through the weekend but this is definitely not our fully-stocked fridge. We also have two refrigerated beverage drawers the previous owners of our home installed right next to our fridge that we LOVE where we store all of our beverages.)
Now that I’ve uploaded the pics, the before/after shots of our fridge may not look that dramatic but what you cannot see in the after photo is the lack of random goo, crumbs and other food particles that desperately needed to be scrubbed and removed from our fridge. It’s like a breath of fresh air when I open our fridge now! (Is this what life is like at 33? Because I’m oddly okay with it.)
Saturday
Saturday morning began bright and early with cashew coffee (a current fav!), oatmeal and a long family walk. Well technically my Saturday began with cuddles because Ryder had me up a little before 5 a.m. and wouldn’t settle back down, so I pulled him into our bed and he snuggled up against me while I began reading The Last Mile by David Baldacci.
Ryan headed off to the gym at 6 a.m. and was back just before Chase awoke for the day. I nursed Ryder while Ryan got Chase up and dressed so we were all ready for our walk a little before 8 a.m.
We ended up walking the long way to the park in our neighborhood and then spent the morning playing on the playground before circling back home.
We made it home around 10 a.m. and took an hour or so to eat some snacks, prep some lemon pepper chicken in the slow cooker, nurse Ryder and relax on the couch before heading back out to spend the rest of the morning at Discovery Place Kids so Chase could run around and get some of his energy out before nap time.
Discovery Place was mayhem on Saturday morning but Chase had a ball. I wore Ryder in the Baby K’Tan the whole time and Chase made us laugh when he turned to me and said, “Mom, Baby Ryder is in your belly again?”
By the time we made it home, we were all ready for lunch and dug into bowls of lemon pepper chicken with cilantro lime cauliflower rice, leftover chimichurri (I follow the recipe in Juli Bauer’s Paleo Cookbook and put this stuff on everythinggg) and sliced tomatoes. (While I’d love to say Chase enthusiastically dug into the cauliflower rice, he had leftover pizza with a banana and cucumber slices.)
To make the chicken we used in our lunches, I simply combined 2 pounds of chicken breasts in the slow cooker with 1 cup chicken broth, 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon pepper seasoning, the juice of one lemon and 1 teaspoon garlic powder and let it cook on high for four hours before shredding. Easy and tasty!
Ryan put Chase down for his nap after lunch and Ryder was ready for a nap as well and snoozed in his Rock ‘n’ Play. I shockingly had a random burst of energy about halfway through Chase’s nap and made my way into the garage for a short 21-minute workout. I truly cannot remember the last time I worked out after noon (I always say if I don’t work out before noon, it’s not going to happen) but sneaking in a quick workout felt great!
Before Ryder was born, Ryan moved all of our gym stuff out of Ryder’s room so it could become his nursery and into one of the spots in our two-car garage so this is our new set up! Ryan works out in our garage almost every week day before work. Anyway, back to my workout!
On Saturday afternoon, I tackled my first postpartum leg workout and it looked like this:
I had time to grab a quick shower before Ryder needed to eat again and then we spent the rest of our Saturday evening at church.
I initially planned to hold Ryder in the nursing mother’s room during the service but since the baby room only had one other baby in it with two childcare volunteers I figured we should take advantage of the one-on-one attention for our little guy and give childcare a shot.
Apparently Ryder slept almost the entire time and did great! Phew!
Sunday
Sunday morning began with another early-morning nursing session but Ryder thankfully went back to sleep for another 90 minutes after a quick 5 a.m. feed. I was wide awake after he ate though and headed downstairs to get some work done before everyone else was up for the day.
Once everyone was ready to get moving, we ate breakfast on the go and made our way to a local beach for some early morning swimming.
Ryder and I hung out in the shade while Ryan and Chase swam in the lake and hunted for tiny shells.
It was such a nice way to spend the morning but something about the sun made all of us feel extra hungry so we were ready for breakfast 2.0 by the time we made it home. While Ryan took care of cleaning sand off everyone, I whipped up a batch of pancakes using our favorite Simple Mills almond flour pancake mix that arrived in my most recent Thrive Market delivery.
The mix is a staple in my Thrive Market orders because it’s Chase’s absolute favorite pancake mix. The pancakes are thinner than most pancake mixes so they don’t leave me feeling weighed down and I’ll occasionally add chocolate chips, blueberries or chopped pecans to the mix and we always love the end result!
We spent the rest of the morning around the house and outside in our backyard. The birds in our backyard are inhaling the seed we put in our bird feeder (it’s almost always gone within 24 hours) so we refilled it and then Chase asked us if we could do some weeding. Nothing like a three-year-old to keep you accountable on yard work, huh!?
Ryan bought Chase his own pair of gardening gloves the last time they were at Lowe’s so I think he was mostly motivated to weed by his Paw Patrol gloves but we pulled on our gloves and got to work! I showed Chase how to pull up weeds at the base to get the roots so for the next 30 minutes we heard a lot of, ” LOOK! I GOT THE ROOTS!”
The rest of our Sunday was pretty uneventful and I say that in a good way. After lunch, I completed another short nap time garage workout while the boys were sleeping and spent 15 minutes on the rowing machine before completing a 10-minute Tone It Up arm workout. Short and sweet and sweaty!
We kept things close to home for the rest of the day and were all in our pajamas by 5 p.m.
I hope you all had a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by PBF today!
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I am so impressed by your ability (desire) to clean the fridge with a newborn lol! And Chase’s interest in weeding is so funny! Is he into gardening too?
There was something on a past podcast episode of Happier that said something along the lines of “outward order creates inner calm” and it’s something I am feeling a LOT of right now — for some reason a cleaner fridge made me feel so much better throughout the entire weekend! And Chase really loves doing basically annnnything outside. I’d love to start a mini vegetable/herb garden with him next spring since I think he’ll be at a great age to really get into it!
Looks like a great weekend! We did a lot of birthday celebrating around here! Although I think all the excitement (plus being in wonder week 5) left my little one quite over the weekend by Sunday evening. Poor thing.
I’m looking forward to getting back into running after my 6 week check up next week. I feel like I might need to try the levitates. And they are so pretty too 🙂
Does Ryan plan to cut his hair now that Ryder is here? I remember he was growing it out while you were pregnant. Or is he a fan of the longer locks?
That was his plan! He actually went into a barber shop after Ryder was born to get it cut and they talked him out of it and told him he was right at the stage where longer hair starts to look good/is more manageable — so they just thinned it! Basically I’m not sure what the plan is now!
Hi Julie!
I know what we see here isn’t the full story and that you must be exhausted, despite always looking beautiful. But, I was wondering if you could talk a bit about life as a mom of two, instead of one. I am due with my second and am blown away by all you seem to be doing with a one month old. Is it easier this time? Do you have some brilliant trick? Reading your posts makes me hopeful that I will be more human the second time around.
Yes!!! I am planning to dive into this more in my first postpartum/Ryder update. Truthfully, handling a newborn has felt easier the second time mainly bc I knew what to expect and Ryder had admittedly been an easier baby than Chase from a sleeping/eating standpoint. The biggest challenge is for sure juggling an energetic 3yo and a baby. It’s hard and very draining some days but also really, really amazing, too! I’ll absolutely dive more into this soon!
Thank you! I’m looking forward to it!
When newborns finally “wake up” and stop sleeping all the time is when it gets really hard. Sometimes you luck out with an easy baby! I was lulled into thinking I had an easy baby and then she finally woke up and omg it was torture. She had colic and cried for 3 months straight. And never slept. But every baby is different!
YAY for fridge cleanouts! i did that a month or so ago and it was amazing! Looks like you all had a great weekend 🙂 We used to have pancakes every weekend while I was growing up. I try to continue the tradition at my house as well. I highly recommend getting a griddle, I use mine every weekend to make pancakes. I can fit about 6 on there at one time.
I didn’t even know how into “before and after” photos I was until you included them!! Yeeeessss!! Such a pain to do, but so satisfying when it’s done. I have several of those tasks piling up around me. That pizza looked like good incentive!
I screenshot that leg workout you posted on Instagram! Can’t wait to do it. So excited for you to get back to your workouts.
Isn’t YouTube one of the BEST resources for workouts when you don’t wanna think of your own?! I grabbed one off of there Sunday and it was a BEAST.
Happy Monday! 🙂
YouTube workouts are soooo great for at home workout motivation! Do you have any favorite go-tos?
Whitney Simmons has some of the best workouts IMO. OH!!! I just did popsugar 45 min. Epic Cardio Boxing…….WOW! It’s a really good one. One of those workouts that you definitely feel the next day…..which is unusual for cardio.
Jointhefitcollective/online-workouts/
Try these workouts! There is a free 7 day trial, you won’t regret it! Jointhefitcollective.com/online-training/
Random question – what type or rower do you have? There are so many to choose from (the price points are so varied) so any input is appreciated! Also your family is adorable!
We have a Concept 2 rower! I admittedly don’t know too much about the different machines but I know Ryan did a ton of research before buying it a couple of years ago. He uses it a lot more than I do (probably 5 to 6 days a week) and has been extremely happy with it! I know it hooks up to an app and lets you compete with other rowers which he loves.
Ohhhh deep cleaning the fridge is totally something I need to do…but dread doing. Haha! Amazing job Julie! It looks so great!! Also, I am totally with you on feeling like if a workout doesn’t happen before noon, it probably won’t happen at all, but feel so accomplished if I do get a workout in later in the day. I actually have been a long time reader, and you were the motivation I needed (especially back in college) to wake up super early and get a workout in every day! So, thank you for that!! I was never a morning workout person until I started to read your blog years and years ago. (8 years ago!!) I hope you have a wonderful Monday, Julie!! Xoxo
I wonder how all of our fridges end up getting so sticky/crumby etc.? It’s not like things are spilling noticeably all the time, and yet, somehow, when you clean them out, it always involves scrubbing at some sticky mystery spot!
Looks like you had a great, low-key weekend with lots of beach time! I’m wondering how you like the gym in the garage? I’m a sweaty Betty, so I have a hard time working out in high temps, but it’s a great way to save space in the house!
Thanks for another great post!
I did the fridge clean out thing on Sunday morning and am totally with you on how satisfying it is! Our fridge was sadly full of food that I prepped at the beginning of the week then was disgusted by when it actually came time to eat it (thanks, pregnancy hormones!). Cereal all the way…
Also have you tried other baby carriers besides the Baby K’tan? I’m wondering how this one is compared to the Ergo.
Sometimes those low key weekends are just what you need. It’s a long weekend here in Canada so I’m taking it easy today since I don’t have to go to work.
Hi Julie!
If you are up for trying something new my husband and I have an online workout program that we created after I had baby#2! It has totally transformed my body! We would love to collaborate with you! Check it out here: jointhefitcollective/online-training/
Thanks!
Amy
Again, another jam-packed weekend! I wish I had your energy sometimes! Also, I’m super jealous of your in-home gym. My boyfriend and I just got a house in Southern California (!!!) and after living in a 23-story apartment in D.C. for three years, we finally have a garage and backyard!!! Let the Operation Home Gym commence! – Kaitlyn | http://www.poweredbysass.com
Ok but seriously, deep cleaning fridges (or tends-to-get-cluttered spot in the house – cabinets, cupboards, closets, drawers, etc.) is truly one of the most underrated joys of adulthood. Not even being sarcastic, haha. It makes things feel so much more organized and orderly and manageable! I’m always so satisfied when I go on a decluttering binge. (Or course, knowing how satisfied I feel after decluttering doesn’t keep me from cluttering things up in the first place, but maybe one day I’ll learn 😛 )
Ugh, I totally have to deep clean my fridge too. The realization actually started with our cabinet next to the fridge. two of the shelves collapsed because so much was piled onto them. We took everything out and my husband fixed the shelves. In the process, I realized that half the stuff on there was expired or hadn’t been used in about 10 years so I majorly threw things out. Great feeling. After that was nice and clean, my husband was like…. “hey, what about this fridge?” I thought, ugh, not now. We postponed the project, but fridge clean out is next on the list.
That cheese pizza looks delishhhhh!! I love me a clean fridge. I will have to try get my kiddo involved with weeding as well – that would be awesome!!
OH I love the feeling of a clean fridge or organized cabinet! Now if only they could always stay that way, lol. And Chase has become quite the helper with cooking and gardening, so adorable!
Look I got the roots! ? Too cute.
I also cannot get enough of before and after cleaning photos. But I’m so bad about cleaning out my pantry and closets that by the time I get to it, I’m way too embarrassed to actually take the before picture haha.
Love your leg workout. I am going to try it today!
The day I can send my child outside to weed will be the day I know I have arrived….
We had a super yummy pizza this weekend too. My toddler picked off all the black olives – not because she didn’t like them, they were the only part of the pizza she wanted to eat! Lol
I still can’t get over Ryder’s little mohawk! So so precious!
Ryder on his beach sarong! ? The turtles too ?
Fridge cleaning is one of my nag jobs. It’s whispers my name everytime I open it until I cave. I think you can tell it’s not high on my must do jobs. Always feel better afterwards. I’m currently reorganising my office/spare room KonMari style. I did the apartment a few years ago as per the book, but now do little room edits every now and then as opposed to whole apartment tidying. Always feel better afterwards with new energy!
And Chases’s Paw Patrol gloves ???
Where did you get that bright pink yoga mat? I really like it!