the black hills: day four.

This day in Custer was just spent hanging around Todd's parents' house.  I love that about being up there - there are so many fun things to do out and about, but there are also so many fun things to do around home.  We don't have to pack our days full of touristy stuff in order to have an absolute blast. 

The boys spent time riding the tractor...

Laurelai spent all her time, well, looking beautiful and chatting with her Grandma.

The ATV and the Gator were huge hits.  Major shocker.

This little mermaid spent all her time in the water.

And the kids played - and napped - in the teepee.

And then, that perennial favorite, Pile of Rocks!!!!!!!!!!!

That evening before dinner, we headed out to drive through the Custer State Park Wildlife Loop.  You can get up close and personal with deer, buffalo, wild burros, prairie dogs, and strangely enough, the military.  (They were running some kind of practice drills or something, which we didn't know about until we crested this hill and all of a sudden there were all these soldiers with major weaponry walking through the grass on either side of the road.  And then there were tanks and hummers and helicopters.  And then also buffalo.  Because: South Dakota.)

When we came up on the group? pack? herd? of wild burros, we were at the ready: Todd's dad had sent us with some bread to feed them, and they knew it.  They swarmed the van, begging for a tiny morsel.  (I swear, they had Oliver Twist accents.)

Todd gave our last piece to one particularly desperate fellow, who then got ticked we didn't have anymore and blew snot all over Todd's head.  I started laughing really, really hard, only to turn around and discover a different burro had stuck his head in my window, and his face was rightnextomine.  I haven't screamed that loudly in a while.  Luckily my screams didn't incite a stampede or a scared donkey-bite or anything, and the burros moved along.  BUT SRRSLY.  Stealth donkeys are the leading cause of heart attacks inside the Wildlife Loop.  It's true.  I saw it on the news.

Anyway, we got home and ate a wonderful meal, the kids went to bed, and then Todd and I stayed up way too late binge-watching the Game Show Network, because: Vacation Y'all.

weekly what's up. and i'm not going to lie and say 'nothing much happened this week.'

This week held some big, big stuff.  I loved this week.

First off, Lauren got married last Friday.  All of that planning and prayer paid off, and it was perfect.  I mean, really, actually perfect.  God has given me so many 'best day's of my life - the day I got engaged, the day I got married, the day each of my kiddos were born, and last Friday.  I am so, so lucky to have had so many best days.

Unfortunately, because there was so much going on, I literally got two photos of anything wedding-related that entire week leading up to it.  They're both blurry, and they're just of Lauren, me, and our mom sitting in pedicure chairs.  So imagine it if you feel like it; you're not missing much if you don't.

Luckily, Todd was on the job with the camera on Saturday, when we went to Lauren's studio for the gift opening brunch.  

We had a makeshift picnic lunch on the floor (because asking a Van Voorst child to balance a plate on their lap while sitting on a chair is basically a deposit guaranteeing that EVERYTHING will end up covered in ketchup, even if no ketchup was served), and all the kids were feeling kind of saucy from dancing their little hearts out until midnight the night before.

My cousin Nick rocked the Ergo (and the Rocco).

After the brunch, Lauren's new brother-in-law Parker, a police officer, offered to show the kids around the Ankeny police station.  Uh, OKAY!  The kids had a freaking blast.  Again, unfortunately, we only had the camera on hand for part of the visit, but just for your enjoyment, we managed to get a shot of all the kids locked in a real jail cell.  What this picture doesn't show you is that the key to open the door wasn't turning in the lock even after many, many attempts, and I genuinely started to panic that they would be stuck in there forever.  But, obviously, as I'm not currently telling you about how my kids are, at this moment, starving to death in an Ankeny jail cell, things clearly worked out okay in the end.

Rocco's world is changing at the speed of light.  He turned eight months old on Monday, he is pulling himself up to standing and seems like he'll start cruising around the furniture soon.  And this week I decided to pull out the cloth diapers again after they'd been a long time in storage.  (I think Penelope's was the last baby bottom to grace them.)  

Cloth diapers definitely have their myriad drawbacks, but daaaang, you can't out-cute a baby in a cloth diaper, even if the photo is blurry and the baby is only barely paying attention to the photographer.  This blurry photo is still cuter than a clear photo of a baby in a dumb disposable diaper, amiright?

Yesterday, the fam took a trip up to the Amish community near here to hunt and gather.  Just like when the pioneers used to drive their minivans to someone else's homestead to purchase things produced at the hands of others.  It made me feel so gritty and down-to-earth.

I definitely think we'll be making that drive once a week to pick up fresh milk, cream, butter, eggs and produce.

You have to be prepared before heading up to the Amish: you need a cooler and ice packs, your own sterilized glass bottles for milk, egg cartons to trade in, and enough cash to cover everything.  It may surprise you, but the Amish don't usually host ATMs or take credit cards.  Usually.

This milk is so. stinking. amazing.  The kids complain about normal store bought milk now, since it is nothing compared to this.  (All the kids except Laurelai, that is, who definitely takes more of a grace-based approach to vetting her milk.  No milk is bad enough to fall out of the scope of Laurelai Van Voorst's love.)

Also?  Speaking of her, Laurelai is adorab-lai.

I started Couch to 5k, and I'm feeling really good about it!  I'm going a little farther and a little faster each time I run, and I'm feeling stronger.  I can tell you more about it soon!

And, as if all of that wonderful wonderfulness wasn't enough for this week, TODD GOT A JOB OFFER!!!  Y'all may not have known this, but Todd has not been working since mid-May.  It has been so, so great for us - we were able to take time to settle here, and go to the Black Hills, and be at all of the fun stuff at Lauren's wedding.  We were able to hunker down as a family for a little while as we all transitioned to living in Missouri, and Laurelai has especially benefited from having Todd home all day to cuddle her, as I think she's had a rough time with the transition and she has really needed her daddy.  But, we were living off of savings, and we had a lot of major expenses in a short amount of time, and I was starting to wonder when, exactly, God was going to come through with a job for us.

And then, lo and behold, perfect timing.  As soon as the wedding craziness was over and there was nothing left on the agenda to have to go do this summer, a job.  God has been so good to us!

Such a great week!  Hope yours was wonderful as well!

so, i'm a podcast personality now. which is weird.

Last weekend, I got a chance to get together with my friend Tori, who discipled me when Atticus and Penelope were really little.  She's now doing a podcast for the women's ministry at Cornerstone Church of Ames, our church home when we lived there, and the hub of our church planting network.  She asked me if I'd be up for talking a little bit about our experience church planting, which is how I found myself doing my first-ever podcast.

Crazy.

As it turns out, I like to say the word, "yeah" a lot.  Like fifty bajillion times in any given 20-minute segment.  It's super annoying.  But I also said some other stuff, too, which hopefully redeemed the whole endeavor.

So, if you're up for reading listening between the 'yeahs,' or you just want to scratch that curious itch you've got about what my voice sounds like, you can listen to the podcast here under "The Church Planting Wife."  (That's me.)

diastasis recti: Q&A with someone who knows more than i do.

Over the last few weeks since I first posted about my diastasis recti, a lot of questions have come up about this DR/Ab Rehab stuff.  But I am far from an expert in any of this (other than how to cause and then rock a flabby core), so I emailed Kelley Suggs from Lithe Wellness Solutions, and she was kind enough to answer our questions!

Q:  I know it's important to start protecting your core during pregnancy to prevent a diastasis recti from showing up in the first place.  How do you do the exercises while pregnant?

A: You can do all of the exercises through the 2nd trimester, when you shouldn't lay on your back anymore. Then you modify by putting a ball behind your back and laying at an incline, taking breaks when necessary and paying close attention to your body. Pregnancy is not a time to push your fitness level by any means, just maintain, and the same is true with the abdominal wall. In the third trimester, there isn't much need to go past exercise number 3.

Q:  Besides doing the exercises, is there anything to keep in mind to protect your core during day-to-day activity, both during pregnancy and after?

A: Getting out of bed the right way is very important during pregnancy. Do not jack knife up to a sitting position, but raise your knees and then let them drop to the side, rolling you over if you are on your back. Then drop your feet off of the bed and use your arms to push yourself up. That can really, really help with round ligament pain. Squatting to pick things up instead of bending over. Consciously using your core muscles instead of just bending over. Sitting with good posture and keeping your core engaged keeps it strong and healthy. Core strength is use it or lose it. That is the biggest thing people should know (as in all strength!).


Q:  As for the exercises themselves, are there any common mistakes people make when doing them on their own?

A:  The biggest mistake people make is RUSHING. Slow and controlled are so important in these simple exercises. Muscle memory is a big part of the program and you create that with slow, controlled movements.

Q: What level of improvement do you typically see in women doing these exercises? What is realistic to hope for, obviously taking into consideration that everyone is different? A: Taking into consideration that everyone is different, including dedication levels, most women with single pregnancies (one at a time, not multiples) with out any tearing or hernias should see a complete and full recovery of their separation. Moms of multiples may have a smaller likelihood of complete recovery and older moms, such as those who have gone through menopause have a smaller chance of complete recovery. Q: Once you're through the exercises, if the DR is improved or fully healed, should you keep doing them daily? Should you still take the same precautions with exercise/daily activities? A: Once the DR is healed/recovered, you CAN continue to do the program daily, but you are free to move on to whatever you would like to do. If you notice a small separation starting, go back to the beginning and work on the foundation exercises, 1 and 2 slowly and with control. No precautions necessary, besides good self care.

Q: What should moms know about DR if they don't have it themselves? Any risk factors or ways to prevent it? Should they be doing the exercises through pregnancy? A: Risk factors-the older you are during pregnancy, the greater your likelihood of developing it. I would encourage everyone to do and modify the exercises during pregnancy because it makes successive (2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc) pregnancies SO much more comfortable. The strain on your back is so much less when the front of your core can support the growing weight that is pulling you forward. So much great info from her! If you have any other questions about diastasis recti in general, or the Ab Rehab program specifically, let me know and I can address them in an upcoming post!
Check out all the posts in this series!

Post One: the battle of the [belly] bulge... my diastasis recti.

Post Two: healing my diastasis recti: a progress report.

Post Three: diastasis recti: Q & A with someone who knows more than I do.

Post Four: my diastasis recti: the final verdict on Ab Rehab

*I was not financially compensated for this post. I received the DVD for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.*

healing my diastasis recti: a progress report.

Well, I'm about halfway through my Ab Rehab exercises, and I thought I'd give you an update on how everything is going in my efforts to heal my diastasis recti.

If you've read the previous blog post (and if you haven't, you should), you know that I've been dealing with an ab separation for quite a while now.  The gap between my abdominals was about two fingers wide, and it was hindering me from being able to do simple things that rely on core strength, like sit and stand up straight.   Not to mention, I'd been looking particularly spare-tire-y, even though I'd lost most of the baby weight.  So I got in touch with Kelley Suggs from Lithe Wellness Solutions, and started going through the Ab Rehab program, which is about ten weeks of exercises that increasingly re-train those ab muscles back together.

Anyway, blah blah blah, enough talking.  I know why you're here: you want to see if it's working.  I'm with you, friend.  So without further ado...

Okay, so, if you're anything like me, you're kind of squinting back and forth between the pictures, wondering if you're actually seeing much change, or if your eyes are playing tricks on you. I think, visually, it's most obvious if you look down toward where my shirt meets my pants, and then scan upward. What you can't see in these photos is that the actual gap itself has gone from two fingers wide to about 1.5 fingers wide. (Believe me, I checked on five - count them, five - separate days to make sure I wasn't imagining things.) That may not seem like much, but that's 25% smaller than it was just a few weeks ago, which I count as a major win. Another thing you're not able to see in the photos is how much stronger I feel when I'm sitting and standing, and the fact that I'm even capable at this point of holding my abs tight. (I couldn't even flex them or 'suck in' my stomach before, my abs were so weak.) I'm still not feeling 100% normal yet, but I'm definitely optimistic.

I will tell you that I do these exercises pretty much every single night, and I go sloooow with them. They're simple - while they push you, they're not difficult. However, they do take concentration and control, and I have to pay close attention to my form when I'm doing them. I have also tried to be extremely committed. I have only missed four days in the last six weeks, and I ended up doing Exercise 2 for an extra week before moving on, since we went on vacation and I forgot to take the DVD with me. Whoops. So I still have about five weeks to go, and I'm really excited to see how much improvement I continue to see. I'll be doing one more update post at the end.

Now, onto some bonus material!  Over the last few weeks, a lot of questions have come up about this diastasis recti/Ab Rehab stuff.  But I am far from an expert in any of this (other than how to cause and then rock a flabby core), so I thought I'd attempt to get some answers straight from the horse's mouth.  And by that, I mean I emailed Kelley and asked her.  I will be posting our questions and her answers tomorrow on the blog, so stay tuned!

Check out all the posts in this series!

Post One: the battle of the [belly] bulge... my diastasis recti.

Post Two: healing my diastasis recti: a progress report.

Post Three: diastasis recti: Q & A with someone who knows more than I do.

Post Four: my diastasis recti: the final verdict on Ab Rehab

*I was not financially compensated for this post. I received the DVD for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.*

the black hills: day 3

Our first outing in the Black Hills was a trip to Old McDonald's Farm.  It's a petting zoo that we've visited once or twice before, but it's been a few years.  It's always a hit with the kids, since there are tons of animals to pet and feed, pony rides, a train, and a playground.

 

 

Laurelai was not. having. this.

Laurelai and her cousin David were best buds.

 

 

Watching the pig race.  It appears Tony's pig won.

Once we got back to the house, the little kids napped, and then they all spent the rest of the afternoon playing Police.  (I feel like these photos make them look like they play with guns all the time; that's not the case, and it's actually quite rare they get to.  These were just the toys on hand at the time.)

 

Big, strong policeman!

the weekly 'what's up.'

Another week of being alive, and I couldn't be happier about it.

Nail clippin' time.

This week held some firsts for this guy - he has slept all the way through the night four nights since we got home from the Black Hills!  The first few nights, I thought it was just a fluke, and that he was just exhausted from the trip, but then he did it again.  And again.  It's definitely not an every-night kind of thing yet, but it has been crazy frequent all of a sudden, so I'm hopeful we're heading in a good direction.

He has also popped his two front top teeth over the last few weeks and they are so cute and funny.  I realize this picture is blurry, but YOU GUYS.  How funny is that?!  I just love it.

And just because 1) I think you deserve to see some less(ish)-blurry photos of him, and 2) BABY BATHTIME!!!!, here are a few more:

In other news, the kids spent an inordinate amount of time hunting for Waldo.

They even got the neighbor girl in on the action.

Finneas found some Groucho Marx glasses - you know the ones, with the attached nose and mustache - but he just wanted to wear the nose part of the deal.  

Atticus sat still for a haircut (that kid's hair grows so quickly), so he got his celebratory/bribery soda.

And last but not least, MY SISTER IS GETTING MARRIED TODAY!!!  It's a good day to become a Day.

Have a great weekend - I know I will!