Elf on a Shelf Playbook, Coloring Page & XMAS Eve Checklist

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Click the photo for our new Christmas pjs! Rivers are an $8 set!! Mine are $25!

Ho Ho Ho! I am feeling very ahead of this game this year!

Last year we were scurrying around the morning off trying to find a new place to hide our elf because we forgot to move her the night before! And even worse, forgetting to move her all together and Bug finding her in the same spot. Good thing she was only two and didn’t really understand completely yet!

But this year, there is no fooling around! We mean business and we made a playbook for it!

I was making this purely for myself and trying to stay organized! But many of my mamas in my Instagram community wanted access to this for easy reference! So here it is!

I have also included my Christmas Eve Checklist (Zippy our elf will leave this for us on Christmas Eve morning)

I have also included my gingerbread “find these” activity coloring page. Again, something I made for my kids, so I hope you enjoy them 🙂 Zippy will leave sheets for all of us to color!

elf-on-the-shelf-playbookDownload

**These are not my elf photo! I plan on replacing them with our own as we go through the month and tweak our ideas!

christmas-eve-checklist-2Download

gingerbread-house-coloring-pageDownload

Lactation Cookies and No-Bake Power Balls

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HI mamas! I hope you love these recipes! These are great to make in bulk so you have a quick snack full of goodness to help with milk supply!

You can add in or sub out whatever you’d like from my recipes! Change the nut butter, add dried fruit or nuts!

I will save you the story and long post before sharing the recipe! Because you didn’t come here for a story, you came for the recipe!

C-section Hospital Bag Checklist & Birth Preferences Sheet (Filled Out + Blank)

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Hi Mamas!

I was creating my own hospital bag list and was thinking this could be helpful for other mamas that are having a planned c-section or just want an easy checklist template to make your own!

I also know that every delivery is different and mamas preferences differ as well! So I have provided blank sheets and extras for you to create what you need for you labor and hospital stay!

These are not hard rules or items you need!

Don’t forget to add “specific to you” items like glasses, contacts, solutions, Tucks (for hemorrhoids or vaginal delivery), any medications you or your partner needs.

Special notes from classes you have taken, or items that you want present during labor and during your hospital stay.

I forgot to add a sound machine to our list! I will be bringing that as well!

You can watch my highlight on instagram of me going through all my items here!

Also feel free to download these pdfs and use what you need! Ditch what you don’t 🙂 I hope you have the birth experience you are hoping for, and if you don’t, I want you to know that birth and labor and delivery is all a success! You are a warrior!

Blank + Filled Out C-section Hospital Bag Checklist + Birth Preferences SheetDownload

What did you add! What did I forget!

Loss of Thoracic Mobility in Prenatal and Postpartum Mamas

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Thoracic Kyphosis (forward rounding of the shoulders usually coupled with forward head posture) is something I see a lot in mamas during pregnancy and in the postpartum period. But this posture is not exclusive to motherhood! Our society really does a great job at reinforcing this bad posture habit. We are doing so much sitting and rounding forward due to our modern society. We are constantly rounding forward to look at our phones, while we sit, walk, study, work, feed babies and do all the things. This posture really does a number on our breathing patterns, making them very short and chesty. This over time can lead to neck, shoulder and chest tightness and not to mention a wide rib cage. Not exactly things that we are striving for. This posture also creating core and pelvic floor dysfunction which can make it very hard for mamas to heal from Diastasis and pelvic floor weakness after pregnancy and delivery.

The lack of thoracic mobility also leads to chronic upper and lower back pain which is something that up to 90% of pregnant mamas report in this study, which is shocking!!

We know how important thoracic mobility is so it is important to strengthen your core to help stabilize the spine and decrease that kyphosis in the spine as well.

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💗Loss of Thoracic mobility💕 is so common not only in the prenatal and postpartum community but also in everyone else in our society because we are constantly looking down at our phones, driving, sitting at a computer, feeding babies, etc. The loss of range of motion can lead to chronic back pain, shallow breathing, core and pelvic floor dysfunction, hip tightness and pain, back weakness, neck and shoulder tightness and the list goes on! Add this series into your weekly routine to loose. Up your back and gain back some mobility! 🌸 on the last two your goal is to keep your back flat and ribs down 😉 harder than it looks. ⭐️ Lots of workouts like these in my App that you can still try for 1$ for 1 month! ⭐️REMEMBER check for doming or coning always In your diastasis and bearing down on the pelvic floor. This could be telling you that your core has shut down, alignment is off or that your breathing pattern has changed once you starting moving! 💕And check with your Dr before starting an exercise program postpartum. #csectionrecovery #csectionmama #csectionfitness #csectionmom #diastasisrectirepair #diastasisrectirecovery #pelvicfloorexercises #thoracicmobility #kyphosisexercises #chairworkouts #diastasisrecti #diastasis #diastasisrepair #diastasisabdominal #abseparation #lowimpactworkouts #momfitness #momworkout #thoracic #diastasis #diastasisabdominal #diastasisrectiworkout #lowimpactworkout #postpartumbody #postpartumfitness #pelvicfloorhealth #pelvicfloormuscles #kyphosis #crunchlesscore

A post shared by Jesse Truelove♡Pre/Postnatal (@movewithtruelove) on

A study found that there was significant decrease in the kyphotic curve of all thoracic segments in both sitting and standing postures with 3 weeks of exercises focusing on transverse abdominals.  This group also expressed chronic low back pain previous to starting exercises. 

This great news for all my moving mamas because we focus so much on strengthening and activating the Deep core muscles, the TA’s. How do we core the TVA? With minimal spinal movement, minimal extension and minimal flexion. The Job of the TVA is to stabilize the spine, it wraps around your body like a corset. When you step off a curb, trip and catch yourself, a kid jumps on your belly and you brace to protect your organs or even when you laugh, cough or sneeze, this deep core muscle is working hard to protect your spine and organs. It important that it functional and working to best ability. After pregnancy these muscles become stretched and lengthened and we lose touch with them. Thats why we focus so much on the slower, conscious movement to re-estabish the mind muscle connection of these very important muscles. 🙂