I've been on a mission to get in shape this winter and since that is not always very easy with children I started to incorporate them into my exercises.

Of course, taking them for walks was a big one, but I wanted to do other things too.

I put in a pilates tape one day and Hayden sat right next to me and did her moves while Elliott napped.

leg lifts! I lay down on the floor, with my knees bent, and lift my legs up with the kids resting on my legs. They LOVE this. tons of laughs and giggles. H and E both take turns, and last night daddy even did this along with me so that they both could play at the same time. I did about 4 reps of 10 and my legs are SORE today!!!

I don't know what this would be called but the other one I did was to lay on the floor and lift my arms straight back, working my triceps, while holding onto Elliott. (Hayden had a turn too she's 35 pounds! so this is a really good one!)

Their favorite was definitely the leg lifts, they had a blast!!!

I'm really excited too because we went for a family walk the other night to the video store, and then to the grocery store and because our wagon was at grandma's house the kids both walked with us! I really was impressed! They both walked almost all of the way!! It had to be over a mile! There was just a little stretch towards the end where Elliott was on daddy's shoulders, but I was really proud of them!

check out fun-baby-games-online.com for some more ways to include your children into your workout!

~Ann