Meet our October Mom of the Month, Lauren Menia.
"Lauren is such a sweet and fun mom. She is such a light at class and so much fun to be around. I look forward to seeing her every Saturday! She is a consistent, positive person every weekend!" -Katie Fenn
“Lauren is a sweet lady and always fun to workout with!” - Lili Enriquez
Tell us about your family
Our family is myself, my husband- George, our two-year old- Victoria, golden retriever- Zeus, and cat-Roatan. We moved to Houston a few years ago from Pittsburgh, PA and we are so happy to be away from the snow! My husband is an engineer and I am an attorney for the county. Victoria enjoys her time at school during the day. We love spending time together at the park, especially our favorites: Hermann Park and Buffalo Bayou.
How did you hear about FIT4MOM and why did you decide to join?
Like so many others I heard about FIT4MOM online. I totally looked at FIT4MOM on Facebook for a few months before I was finally brave enough to take a class. I told a co-worker about it and we agreed to try it together on teacher appreciation day (even though we are not teachers we were hoping to blend in!) I loved the workout and the positive vibes from everyone so much I came back (mostly) every Saturday since then.
What is your favorite thing about motherhood?
I’m not going to lie, in addition to the MANY other joys of motherhood, one of my favorite things is shopping and dressing my baby in her outfits! She loves to shop as much as I do and is such a good helper getting ready in the mornings. I will enjoy it as long as she will let me!
What is your favorite Halloween or Fall time family memory?
One of my absolute favorite memories of Halloween was the Scarecrow stuffing parties my mom would host for me and my neighborhood friends when I was a child. We had this amazing hand painted Scarecrow with the same raggedy old clothes every year that we would take out. My mom would set out a hay bail and my friends and I would stuff the Scarecrow to put him together. It took a lot of hay to go into that five-foot Scarecrow, but was so much fun! I love having small family traditions like this. Now that Victoria is a toddler, I can’t wait to start the tradition with her!
What would your kid say is your favorite thing to say?
One thing that Victoria hears me say a lot and repeats a lot is, “mommy’s here.” I started saying it as a calming mechanism for her in the car, but now whenever either of us are having a meltdown we can say it with a hug and feel better.
What advice would you tell a fellow mom?
If there was any advice I would give, it would be knowledge about what I call the Rule of 3s. I was a first-time mom that truly struggled to assimilate to my new role in those long and sleepless first couple months and the Rule of 3s is something that I was told that helped me so much. It goes like this: things with a new baby will get easier at 3 days, 3 weeks, and 3 months. I found this to be so true! As our family navigated our way for those months the eating, sleeping, and general routine seemed to come together around those marks. I also seriously need those goal posts to help me know that I would sleep again and I would feel like myself again.
What are some of your favorite things to do without kiddos?
Since we do not have family around our time without our kiddo is limited. However, my husband and I love to travel. Most recently we were able to go to a Clemson football game!
Tell us something interesting that we may not know about you.
My sister and I have the SAME birthday, just 8 years apart!