Mommy Blog

Located on a well-shaded corner lot just a few blocks from the neighborhood elementary school, the 100-year-old Victorian home had the space and charm that the young couple sought, with a list price that was within their buying range. More importantly, it also needed a lot of renovation work -- a new kitchen, updated bathrooms, and restoration work to its interior. In short, the couple quickly realized it would take more than the mortgage cost to get into the home. They would also have to spend thousands on renovations. Armed with that information, the couple returned to the seller with a lower-than-expected offer. They pointed out which parts of the home were dilapidated and which parts were out of date. The seller agreed to lower the price for some but not all needed renovations. The lesson: needed renovations can affect the purchase price. Since the cost of major renovations will be difficult to recoup in a short period, sellers are generally warned to stick with repainting and repl...

Worried about the possibility of rising mortgage rates, a couple decided to end their home search by choosing a house from among three prospective candidates they had looked at. They chose a modest wood-framed two-story home. While the house was conveniently close to a school, it lacked the big backyard and the two-car garage they had hoped for. It had other shortcomings as well. Because they focused on the mortgage interest rate, the couple was less selective with their home purchase, a decision that would haunt them over the years as each shortcoming became more glaring. It would also fuel their buyer's remorse. Being selective when purchasing a house isn't a bad thing - although it can get out of control. But how far should you go? Start by making a list of your home-buying wants and needs, and rank them in order. Then, decide where you're willing to trade-off. For example, being near schools and parks may be more important than being close to restaurants and shops if yo...

We’re back today with a back and core workout that features a few moves you haven’t done before. Though it may not seem obvious at first, there are actually several benefits to building core and back strength-and those large muscle groups are more related than you might think. When we talk about your core, you might think of those “six-pack abs” muscles on the front of your body, but core muscles like your internal and external obliques wrap around the sides of your body; and your transverse abdominis-your innermost core muscles- extend over the crest of your pelvis. Similarly, while your back is made up of several muscles, broadly speaking you can think about using your trapezius (the muscles at the top of your shoulders used for push-ups and planks), your rotator cuff muscles ( used when throwing a ball), your latissimus dorsi ( a large, wide muscle that wraps around the middle of your back), and your erector spinae (a deeper muscle group that help you sit up straight and aides in ro...

Today we’re kicking items off with a full-body cardio workout, and we’ve got some good news and some bad information along with it. The good news? Today we’ll be introducing an infamous maneuver: burpees. The bad information? Today we’ll be introducing burpees. LOL. Love them or hate them, burpees are sure to up the ante upon any workout. They’re meant to be hard no matter your fitness level, as the goal is to perform them as quickly as possible thus your heart rate will skyrocket. On the plus part, their ability to make your heart pump thus quickly would make burpees an extremely efficient and effective cardio exercise. And, they function pretty much your entire body, as SELF previously explained. A burpee is a single maneuver that incorporates jumping, squatting, planking, and, if you would like to make it extra spicy, doing a push-up. Like many other exercises, burpees become much easier the even more you practice them. You’ll also feel even more mentally ready for the challenge eve...

If you have been hibernating all winter months (or, let's encounter it, all season ), the very thought of figuring out how to start out working out again may seem to be a lttle bit daunting. And while there is no method around it-when you are not in the behavior of training, you lose progress-don't get deterred from sweating it out. Challenges could be a good thing! There are some what to think about if you are easing back again into a good work out routine whether you've been going for a break for days gone by little while, months, as well as years. Barry's Bootcamp trainer Kellie Sikorski and physical therapist Karena Wu, DPT, MS, CSCS, understand what's up with regards to getting modified and avoiding injury. Listed below are 11 issues to remember as you kick- begin that fitness grind. Planning Among the first measures before you truly dive backside into a good work out routine is to approach out what you need your routine to appear to be, and how you wish to mak...

The push-up can be an amazing exercise-it’s convenient, works a huge amount of important muscle mass, and enables you to feel pretty darn accomplished. That’s why learning how accurately to do push-ups is one of the top goals various exercisers have on the lists. But let’s come to be honest: The push-up is definitely an intimidating exercise, particularly if your upper-body durability is not as developed as your lower-body strength. Plus, tons of folks may have unwelcome flashbacks to health club class in university, where push-ups enjoyed a high role in the conditioning tests many pupils had to perform. If you tended to have a problem with the push-up as a youngster, you may continue steadily to perceive the training as something challenging even as your health has progressed. And if you feel just like you’re “bad” at push-ups, you might tend to shy from doing them, which, of course , makes getting more robust in them more challenging, New York-based physical therapist and trainer Lau...