Why China?

I just wrapped up a great book about adoption in China called in Mine In China.  It has been an incredible resource to answer a million questions I had, but also a great eye opener on what we need to be prepared for.

I've been asked, why China.  Why not the US?  Why not foster care?

My most honest answer is, our daughter is in China.  When I saw her I knew where she was, and where God directed us to go.

But I also want to share how Down syndrome is perceived in the US versus other countries.  I've been told it takes an average of 3 years to domestically adopt a child with Ds in the states.  (This may be longer now?). Ds is wanted here, people will adopt domestically and the list of applications is long.  Just recently I saw a post on Facebook to apply to adopt a boy with Ds in the states and within days they had so many applicants they stopped taking any more.

In China 25% of the children waiting for adoption have Down syndrome.  It is estimated way more than 25% actually are waiting because their files haven't even been completed yet.

Children with DS used to be viewed as "unadoptable" in China.  It wasn't until more recently, 2011, that files even started being prepared for these kids.  The need is great.

Every child needs a home.  I do believe that.  But for our family, we were called to China.  Our little girl had no other applicants standing by.  She was simply waiting.  So that's why China.  We are equipped to raise a child with Ds, and God has called us there.

We are Adopting!!!

It's with great excitement that we get to announce our future daughter!!!

This has been a long & prayed over journey!  My heart has been called for at least 4 years to adopt another child with Down syndrome.  The timing has never been right, until my whole family was called!

And then one day, the most beautiful little girl popped into my newsfeed.  I fell in love.  Then, I watched a video of her and in that exact moment, I knew where we were going to bring our daughter home!  It was undeniable!

It's been a roller coaster so far, but one that is so worth it because in a short amount of time, we will be embracing this girl in China & bringing her home to meet her siblings!

The kids are ecstatic!  In true Aubrie form, she bawled, and said she's been praying for this for so long!  Everett agreed to sit by his sister in the back seat to make room for her in the car.  And Ollie, well who knows what Ollie thinks!  But Ollie LOVES babies, so she's going to be over the moon for a sister!

Baby sister is 2 years old.  She also rocks designer genes.  We will hopefully have her home within 9-12 months!  She'll be 3 by the time we get her (I honestly think she's older than they say).

So please pray for us!  We have a long road ahead! <3 p="">

Myth busters - why women need strength training more than cardio!

Cardio won't cut it!  Literally!  If you are wanting a defined, sculpted, toned body - cardio isn't going to get you there!  It's so common that I hear people want to lose fat by doing cardio first.  They literally try to run their behinds off, but truth be told they don't get a round & tight booty from running alone or the sculpted arms & Carrie Underwood legs they are really wanting!  

It actually takes strength training to get the natural butt lift you are really looking for!  And feel like you need cardio for a healthy heart - trust me leg day with 10-15 heavy weight squats is going to get in some of the most intense cardio you have experienced!!!!

Here are my fitness pictures from day 1 to day 90.  During this time I was only doing cardio workouts for 30-60 minutes, 6x a week.  Yes I lost weight, but my after photo still wasn’t the results I wanted to see.  I went down in pants sizes & lost some pounds, but I was not toned or cut like I wanted to be. 

Weight training is where it’s at because you will grow your lean muscle mass!  Yes ladies that’s a sweet thing!  Here is why…the more muscle you have = the more calories your body will burn even while resting.  So you get to eat more food!  You won’t “get bulky” by lifting weights because women don’t have the testosterone men have to get big!  Instead you’ll carve out that figure you are really looking for!

3.  Strength training disconnects success from the scale & places the focus of success on weights or reps going up!  So many of my clients & myself included will vary in weight every day.  Because of this, most of my clients will get discouraged and “give up” before they ever get started because when the scale doesn’t go down fast enough they determine their new routine isn’t working!!!!  However, when we shift the focus on our strength gains & away from the scale, women get empowered.  They realize how strong they are & they fall in love with strength training!  

Here is a fun fact for you from a test group study if you still don't believe me!!

"Overweight subjects were assigned to three groups: diet-only, diet plus aerobics, diet plus aerobics plus weights. The diet group lost 14.6 pounds of fat in 12 weeks. The aerobic group lost only one more pound (15.6 pounds) than the diet group (training was three times a week starting at 30 minutes and progressing to 50 minutes over the 12 weeks).

The weight training group lost 21.1 pounds of fat (44% and 35% more than diet and aerobic only groups respectively). Basically, the addition of aerobic training didn’t result in any real world significant fat loss over dieting alone.

Thirty-six sessions of up to 50 minutes is a lot of work for one additional pound of fat loss. However, the addition of resistance training greatly accelerated fat loss results."  Nerd Fitness

FREE step by step 6 home strength workouts anyone can do!