Your best suggestions for toning muscles

After the birth of my next child (which is only a few weeks away!) I'm looking forward to taking some time for myself to try to get back into better shape. During this pregnancy I lost alot of muscle tone and am definitely looking softer. I should also mention that I have at least an extra 15 lbs I'd like to shed before the summer.

I became pregnant in May 2006 (yes 2006) with our first son and gained over 40lbs during that pregnancy, and managed to lose everything but 12-15 lbs. Three months later I was pregnant again and I didn't exactly have the chance to stay as fit as I wanted to. Granted I have only gained around 25 lbs at this point, I'm not going to strive for looking pre-pregnancy 2006 if that makes sense.

Does anyone have any suggestions for safe exercises that one can do at home that could help boost muscle tone and shed a few pounds along the way? I'm looking for anything that could be done within 20-30 minutes a day since I have an extremely active toddler and soon a newborn which will occupy my day.  

the best thing that works for me, well before i was preggies, is yoga. i really like rodney yee. they have an entire set that will help you burn the pounds quickly and easily. you don't have to do it everyday, and you can do it for either 10 mins or up to an hour.

Pilates. I love pilates! It is similar to yoga, but you use an exercise ball and tension rubber bands to "lengthen and strengthen" the muscles. If not pilates, then a workout that involves an exercise ball. I used a ball workout after my first, and noticed a HUGE difference in my muscle tone in just a few weeks. I will most definitely be using it or pilates after this one comes. Good luck!