Babies are like bad rental tenants. They move into a pristine place, then proceed to tear down the wallpaper, scratch the hardwood, dent the baseboards and then on the way out be all, “What? What did I do so wrong?!”

These days, nestled somewhere between power washing the driveway and re-organizing my sock drawer on my list of priorities is working out.

Lisa Schale-Drake is a Master Trainer with Barre 3, and she took some time to answer some questions for us about why barre-based workouts might be a good consideration for any mom who wants to work up a sweat.

After I posted yesterday about the importance of finding joy in our days, I realized it’s the small things in my day that I often find the most pleasure in. And paramount on my list of Favorite Things are food and drinks–specifically, carbs and tea, my two favorite specific types of said categories.

I was looking at one of my favorite blogs, Brooklyn Blonde, today, and one of her most recent posts titled “What Brings You Joy?”

It was as I was walking The Green Mile toward the scale at my 31-week appointment that I considered, briefly, tearing off my sneakers to knock off a few pounds from the final tally.