I think I can, I think I can!

Hello! I am Andrea and I am 34 years old. I am married to the love of my life and we have two sweet babies Ava Lynne and Alexandria Renee. I'm just a regular mommy of Irish twins trying to be a #Fitmom.

[fitmominprogress]

Joseph John Branco IV was born 3.14.18 at 3pm! 8lb 20in. We are soooooooo in love with our boy and our family is complete 💙💙❤️❤️❤️

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Baby Joeys nursery is done, and it is officially my favorite space in the house 💙👶😍

[bob-belcher]

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😂😂😂😂😂

*me rewatching every Friends episode on repeat for the past 10 years*

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I haven’t written a proper post on tumblr in probably a year but I felt compelled to document this momentous occasion, our third and final gender reveal and the day we found out we were finally getting our baby BOY 💙 At 14 weeks we went to a place called Bellyssimo (see what they did there?😂) for a 3D ultrasound. This is pretty early for finding out gender so I was skeptical, yet couldn’t stop myself from going. The package I purchased was called ‘angle of the dangle’. It’s called that because the way they determine gender at this early point is to look at the angle at which the ‘nub’ between their legs is positioned. Joe came up with such a fun way to announce the gender. He came up with a game where we put colored balls in a box and each person picks one. Whichever color reached 7 balls first was the gender! We had pink and blue balls, and then I threw in a few yellow for fun. At the appointment we gave the tech one pink and one blue ball - we asked her to put the appropriate ball in the box and threw out the other one. So at that point she was the only person who knew the gender! On Sunday we had the family over for BBQ, swimming and of course our reveal! I was SO nervous and I had been since the day I found out about the baby. I love love my girls but I’ve yearned for a boy and I know my husband has too!! It would just make our family feel SO complete. We live-streamed the reveal on Fb and I think everyone had fun watching! Each person pulled a ball one by and one and I colored the corresponding heart on the chalkboard as balls were pulled. My husband stood in the back, quiet, drinking his beer nervously. I was so excited and also freaking out. It came down to the wire - one more blue ball would mean it was a boy. It happened so fast. It was Alexs turn and she pulled a blue ball. 6 blue balls. 1 more wins it. Next is Ava’s turn. It happens in a flash - she pulls a ball and it’s BLUE!!!! AHHHHHH everyone goes nuts! I am OVERWHELMED and jumping up and down and screaming. So was my brother, who was in town for all of this and made it so much more special. We are jumping and hugging and my husband is cheering. He comes over to me and embraces me and I just break down sobbing. It was so emotional! It felt unreal and I still can’t believe it. OUR BABY BOY!!!!! 💙💙💙 His name has been set for years already. My husband is Joseph John III, so baby will be Joseph John IV. We call him JB4 and baby Joey 💙

[fitmominprogress]

Here we go again 👶 Baby Branco #3 due March 2018 😍

[coping-skill-toolkit]

During my first month with my therapist, I was given this worksheet to read and work on. She noticed that while I was talking with her, that my thoughts followed a lot of these. I wasn’t aware that my anxiety had brought me down paths of low self-worth and stinky thinking.  After a couple of weeks of talking with her, she gave me this worksheet to work on. 

While, at first, I thought these weren’t going to work out, I was very surprised to see just how easy they were to use . My homework at that time was to identify which sort of thinking I used on the regular and which ones would best challenge them for me. So, what do you think? Do any of the maladaptive thinking patterns sound like you? which ways would you like to untwist your thinking? 

[tchtchtchtchtch]

I’ve seen the list of distortions before but not the list of techniques! This is great.

[fitmominprogress]

There is still a lot of work to be done, but it's so motivating to see that I've made PROGRESS. I'm moving forward, not backwards. Current strength training 4 days a week and counting macros using IIFYM. Almost time to put a bikini on, let's do this!

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I needed that.

Been at new job for about 2 months now and it's lonely. Good experience, yes. Professional growth, yes. But lonely. No one KNOWS me. Do I chit chat with people? Sure. But no one really KNOWS me yet, and that makes for a lonely day. I've been feeling down and out lately. Dreading going to work. Another lonely day. I think yesterday God knew I needed a boost, which came in the form of a day in ortho. Sounds weird right? I'll tell you what though - when I got that first spinal with ease on my first patient of the day - boost in confidence, endorphins, a smile on my face. Oh, and then when I got that combined spinal epidural on my second patient (which I have not done since SCHOOL) and literally made it look like I could do it with my eyes closed - HUGE boost in confidence. I rode that high for the rest of the day. I needed that.

[in-pursuit-of-fitness]

[unrepentant-thinner]

Good morning!

[kadywicker]

depression after years of having it isn’t even sadness it’s just being exhausted and being allowed one (1) emotion a week and sometimes your brain is like “die” and you’re like “shut up brad”

[urbeaut]

[fitmominprogress]

Stepping way out of my comfort zone. Leaving my job of 10 years and headed to a place where the CRNAs run the show. Scared and nervous, but excited for how much I'm going to grow professionally!

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Here we go....

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A little motivation on this dreary rainy Friday in Philadelphia.

I’ve been stuck in a rut lately. I’m eating healthy (I think?). I’ve been going to Crossfit my usual 4 days a week. Yet my weight won’t budge from 158-159. I KNOW I’m not done. I know I can do another 5-10lbs. I just need to figure out what I am doing wrong.

I made an appointment with a nutritionist/registered dietitian and I’m actually REALLY excited about it. I am really looking forward to learning more about the fuel I put into my body and getting the tools I need to conquer these last few lbs.

It’s easy to feel fat again after you’ve gotten used to your new, smaller body. My prior weight loss just doesn’t seem like a big deal anymore. My husband tells me I have body images issues and I don’t disagree. I just want to not be disgusted by what I see!

[fitmominprogress]

Flashback to when I was in incredible shape (but of course still wasn't happy, ugh, stupid). I am truly my own motivation. I aspire to look like that again.

[fitmominprogress]

Day 16 and still kicking! Feeling great!

[wordsnquotes]

Do the scary thing first, and get scared later

Lemony Snicket, When Did You See Her Last? (via wordsnquotes)

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Day 10 of the 21 day fix and I'm feeling pretty good. I have missed 2 workouts so far (it was the pilates one and the yoga one) but otherwise I've done all the other workouts and my nutrition I would say has been really good. I did have pizza and ice cream cake on hubby's birthday but... Balance right? Hehe.