A Girl Born in November

Josh Josh Josh

2012-01-10T16:04:00.000-08:00

Dear January,

The weather outside has been awesome! We have taken advantage of this beautiful weather. It has definitely helped ease the tensions of my relationships with my children. Potty training Josh is taking it's toll so it's nice that we can go outside and play to let off some stress.
We have started swim lessons for both Abby and Josh. Josh is in soccer as well. He really likes soccer a lot and tries really hard. Swimming is not his favorite.

Today was his first day and he struggled. The swim teacher is really strict and wanted me to leave for parts of it. Which was hard because he was crying. The whole time. I could tell that he was scared and having a hard time.

But the teacher just saw another difficult child. I made excuses, all the ones he was using except the most critical one, that he doesn't know how or cannot breathe through his nose. I got the impression that this would not have mattered to the veteran teacher.

Part of me liked seeing him pushed hard, with a no excuses kind of rigidity. Other parts of me nearly jumped into the pool to save my baby boy from a bad experience. Part of me thinks this is good for him and he will reap the rewards of hard work and other parts of me think that he will be forever scarred and will never enjoy swimming because of a militant teacher.

In the end he said he liked it. I'm not sure he will feel that way next week.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth

A New Year 2012

2012-01-06T11:52:00.000-08:00

Dear 2012,

I have been looking forward to this year since early of last year. 2011 is safely behind me now. I tied up a few hanging strands right there at the end of 2011 and have resolved to leave much of that year in the past.

I am also going to take the first part of the year to decide on my resolutions. Honestly I am unsure if 2012 will be easier than 2011. I hope so! 2011 left me broken and tired. Maybe stronger, but I don't want to find out. I really extra don't want to find out.

2012 is already weird because it is so temporary. Everything here is just for a little while now. My last full year in Ohio is already gone. I believe that I had my last Christmas and New Years here since I plan on traveling to Texas for the holidays this year. Much of this impermanence will determine how much resolving I can do.

Much of this year will be spent having fun! I can tell already since it started with a party. This winter is already 100 times better than last year. All the snow melted off and we defrosted with an awesomely sunny (seriously more sun that July) 50' day. Ohio has taught me not to waste days like this.

Josh and I began by jumping on the trampoline. We jumped on each other's shadows, spelled his name with chalk and played "Buzzy Lightyear to the rescue!". When Isabelle woke up we took a walk/bike ride to the bike park. We played 3 year old hide and go seek, taking turns hiding behind different trees. We all jumped off the stump a few dozen times and stood on the rocks. We played ready set go! and took turns on the radio flyer. Isabelle is finally old enough to have a good time. And we did. I feel so glad for this break from winter, before it really sets in. I just hope we get to thaw out like this every couple of weeks.

Sincerely

A girl born in November

2011-12-27T13:33:00.000-08:00

Dear December,

So much is happening! We went to TX for a whirlwind trip. Adam's parents finally got to meet, hold and bond with Isabelle. As they always hoped, my children are very entrenched in the cupcake/cookie tradition. Everytime they see Meme and Granddad they are given their choice of a cookie/cupcake and a beverage. Since we saw them everyday of our trip we had lots of cupcakes and cookies!

I got to spend valuable time with my sister and her kids. I love them so much! We played and played and ate. and played.

I also got to see my mom and had lunch with Dad. It was so nice to stay at their house and see them. Their house is crazy right now. I hope the next time I visit that we will have more energy to spend time together.

We came back just in time for Christmas Eve and Christmas and birthday parties and dog sitting and working. And now cleaning. So much in such a small amount of time.

We carved out a day to relax yesterday. Santa brought me a bike and God made me a day in December to use it. And so we all went for a bike ride. Yesterday it was bright and sunny and in the mid 40's. Today it is snowing. I feel shear gratitude that we had yesterday and that we used it to relax. Because here we go. It's the end of December.

Love,

A Girl Born in November

Ingrid

2011-12-09T19:43:00.000-08:00

My neighbor passed away suddenly last Sunday. She wasn't outwardly sick. In fact she didn't feel ill until a day or two before she died. Then on Sunday, she died.

Ingrid was the first neighbor I met here. She was colorful and nice. She immediately helped me get my yard together. She encouraged me to get the dead tree out of my yard. A lot. She lent me tools and good advice about how to get rid of weeds.

She admired my kids. And was nice to them. Every Halloween she made a special goody bag for them, which they loved. It included special German candy, since that was her first home.

She always smiled and waved. Sometimes she would walk across the street to talk to us. And sometimes we would walk across the street to her.

I looked for her and liked her. And now I miss her.

I am sad that her family is there sifting through her stuff. They leave a light on, but I still know that the house is vacant. They are heartbroken. And I am heartbroken for them.

Yo-Yo

2011-12-07T14:24:00.000-08:00

I'm up and then I'm down. It's true for several facets of my life. It seems like I should be about ready to get out of this phase I assocaite with the first year of a baby's life. The actuality of being able to leave for short periods of time to workout, and then they get sick/have a growth spurt/are going to do something cute you don't want to miss and so you don't leave them. And then they get better, plateau, accomplish their task and off you go.

Then there's hormones. You make estrogen and then you don't and then the baby starts to wean and then they don't. And sleep. You don't and then you do and then you don't. And then you don't. I go through spurts where doing housework is relieving and a good way to wind down, or get a sense of accomplishment. And then the other times where it is so mundane and repetitive that I just don't care.

I'm ready to move into that stabilizing phase. Where our routine lasts for more than a few unstable weeks. I know that craving this during Christmas season is going to require added measure of patience. But I'm ready. I'm ready when it comes.

December? December!

2011-12-01T13:28:00.000-08:00

Dear December,

You caught me by surprise! I was so into November that I nearly missed you. I turned 31 in November, something which warrants it's own post-one that has already been started but not finished. And that my friend is what November was- a BUNCH of unfinished ends.

Josh got his first real black eye on "Black Friday". It was a baddie. We also named his feet George and Paul. He didn't use diapers and then he did and now he doesn't. He pooped on the potty but that is going to take sometime to master.

Isabelle revived her iron levels and is once again the happiest tiniest baby on the block. She says a handful of words "Uh ho" "Ya" "Mama" "Dada" "Abby". She is transitioning out of two naps a day. Which is bittersweet.

Abby knows how to read everything. She is really starting to comprehend what she reads as well. Her tooth is so loose that she could pluck it out of her head if she weren't terrified of loosing it. She is growing up.

As with everything else, I need to catch up!

A Girl Born in November

Josh in November

2011-11-06T18:44:00.000-08:00

Dear November

You have been great really. We visited Patterson Farms and had a great time. The weather has been ideal and the colors youake are amazing.

But let's talk about my son Josh for a minute. You see it was Octobers job to potty train him and make him a little calmer. But something didn't stick. Remember how hard of a job October had. It had so much! And now work has spilled over.

Josh put several attachments to a screwdriver set, a measuring spoon, and a home teaching sheet into his favorite juice. In fact the only juice left in the house. He then dumped put all of Abby's candy on his bedroom floor and peed on the stairs while I was in the shower.

Church was no better. Beyond his normal restlessness he decided to parade me around like a Luchadore sprinting and wrestling him to the ground. He dumped crayons, beat up
His sisters and full on screamed during the service.

If this was not enough he really went for it after church. At first he simply flitted from area to area making mess upon mess. He sugared himself up with sugary treats galore (certainly pilfered from his sisters stash) and then quietly slipped himself into the bathroom to "make bubbles" by pour my hand soap down the drain and running water over it.

Relieved by this break I decided to show him how to play with the water without angering his mother. I plugged the sink and filled it half full of water adding just a few squirts of soap and let him splash around. I then left to finish making dinner.

Josh was entranced and for the moment I felt the days "activities" winding down.

Until I noticed water dripping out of the kitchens light fixture.

Adam, downstairs with Abby, heard only my emergent cries and the stampede of his frantic wife up the stairs. I was unplugging the drain and stopping the water. Also I was trying not to be angry with a very confused Josh. He was slightly alarmed and beginning to panic when I found him.

My reaction did not calm him down.

The waterfall in the kitchen however did.

Shall I continue on about how din we and home teaching went? No. You were there witnessing it with me.

Please November show mercy where October didn't.

Sincerely

A Girl Born in November

The return of blOgging

2011-11-01T09:04:00.001-07:00

Dear November

Please show mercy everywhere that October did
not.

Sincerely

A Girl Born in November

Josh's Surgery

2011-09-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

Josh had surgery a week ago on Monday. He had his tonsils and adenoids removed. It was so sad to see him go to surgery. He fought the whole way! He refused to wear the hospitals pajamas and socks, preferring to be 'naked'. The doctor told us it was a really good decision to have them removed because upon physical examination they were much larger than he expected-a 4. They were blocking about 90% of his airway. He had a reaction to the anestesia-he turned red like a lobster for about an hour. Painless (assuming that the morphine wasn't counteracting any pain from the rash) though. He looked like hell for the day and has been getting better. Nights are still unbearably rough with him, but it will get better. We are sure. His little voice has changed a lot. It would be nice if he would take medicine without such a fight. Even when he is shaking from pain he still tries to fight it. Silly boy.

more Pictures

2011-08-20T15:10:00.000-07:00

Daddy and Isabelle at Joseph Smith's home in Palyra NY

Patterson Farms October 2010

Josh in Bucket August 2011

Steers and Sneaky Josh August 2011

Rocky River Reservation

Squashy Joshy chachi

2011-08-20T14:40:00.000-07:00

I was just thinking today about how fat Josh used to be. This is him almost exactly a year ago! So cute! I love this little boy. Here is a picture of another little boy I love. I had fun playing with this picture in my editor. He is holding my favorite little boy at the church's Kirtland site in the saw mill. So Cute!!!

To a New Beginning

2011-08-18T10:30:00.000-07:00

I am so excited for school to start and not because Abby is leaving. I am excited for the new beginning. I am excited for the new routine-ahhh blessed routine. I am excited to enjoy new friendships and rekindle old friendships. I am excited for a long and healing fall. I am excited to have some reason to say that we can start over and bring out fresh crayons and fresh perspectives. I am ready to let go of old weighty things and start floating.

Abby's Kindergarten Graduation and Isabelle Growing Up

2011-06-05T13:28:00.000-07:00

This week we passed two milestones. Abby graduated from Kindergarten. I have better pictures that I will post later-we mostly took video of her singing cute kindergarten songs. She was so sweet. It is a little weird that she had her ceremony a week before school ends. I know. I can't believe that she is so grown up! I really love who she is becoming. She is helpful and thoughtful. She is funny and the perfect 5 year old.

Isabelle is 7 months old. This week she decided that she would be able to go all the way from laying flat to sitting up to standing up on her own. This has lead to some disastrous, although not discouraging, falls. Like off the bed. She can crawl any and all pillow mountains without thought of what might be beyond them. We are pulling out the crib this week to prevent further falling and give her a safe space to be. She is eating macaroni and cheese and cookies with her little gums. No teeth in sight yet! At the rate she is going I wouldn't be surprised if she walks by 8 months. : ( I really like this stage but she is already pushing off my lap like she could just walk away.

Josh. Oh Josh. He has had a CT scan of his little head to see if he needs any kind of surgery for sinus polyps or adenoids. I am still debating about scheduling a sleep study although I think he would probably benefit from it. He woke up 4 times last night. Which makes cranky parents. I am kind of waiting to have Abby finish up with school.

Our days are already filling up with bike rides and park days. It is really nice to be outside so much.

Race Day

2011-05-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

We ran the Cleveland Rite Aid 5k again this year. I ran the 5k with Courtney. She kicked my butt. She is a speedy devil. I did not make my New Years Goal so I will try again later this year. I still did better than last year though- I averaged 9:20min/mile inspite of that all too common runner's ailment that causes you to have problems in the middle of a race and then again after the race. Stories that are usually told to only other runners.

Abby ran the kids race. Josh made his first attempt. They both got medals and 'presents' as they called them. Abby actually ran, while Josh cried and had Adam carry him. It was pretty cool because they held the race on the Brown's Stadium Field. It was raining, or rather misting the whole time. Just like always. Sometimes I think that I must live in Washington.

It was a great time and I am excited to run this race again. And to race again.

The End is Near

2011-05-29T13:08:00.000-07:00

A week ago I had the opportunity to watch a group of little kids while their parents went to their OCPM graduation ceremony. It was different than previous graduations because I knew these people. Almost everyone is leaving the state. And most of them are doing it for good. It is odd to view their drama, one that unfolds so publicly. For several of them it was the last time that they would go to our church building. Their families were there and they were able to share some of the memories made here. Watching their end, and subsequent beginning, made me think of our own impending end and new beginning.

It also made me think of my last ending. We left Texas nearly two years ago. I remember that day, taking a picture that isn't even on this computer(we got this computer after we moved here in 2009), to document our last time living at my parents house. We stood right outside the tree in the front yard. My dad took the picture. I still feel sad that I don't get to wander back to his office and ask him if we can go to lunch. Or offer him some toast and eggs for breakfast. Or tell him he has to eat vegetables at dinner time.

I remember marking the end of the street, which I had run literally hundreds of times on hot, humid Texas mornings. I remember passing the grocery stores where I learned how to coupon. I remember leaving Dallas, and then Texas. And that was my end. The border of Texas. It was still hot, but not Texas hot. And Texas was no longer home.

Home was somewhere new. A place I didn't know yet. A place without memories or family or friends. When we got here we were so blessed to have half the ward come and move us in. We nestled into our first house, our first house that we own. And started making it our home.

And just two short years later I am looking forward and planning how we are going to move out. I am already nervous to put it on the market and look around and making lists and checking things off of things that we need to do. I guess when you know that you aren't going to be somewhere for a long time it is hard to really settle. It's more like recovery time before you next sprint.

Children

2011-05-08T13:08:00.000-07:00

Last week the challenges piled up. And I was weighed down. My husband, in spite of his heavy and arduous load (it was the beginning of a grueling test week) came home just long enough for me to take a quick run. I ran out, heavy and burdened. As my focus shifted from every other role I was juggling to runner I was able to look up and see the beautiful sunset. I was able to breathe in the comfortable air and the sweet smell of mowed lawns. I thought about the ways I challenged myself and how I want to put in more miles. I genuinely want to run more.

Then I began to think about children, because I am a mom. And no matter what or where we are the hardest thing to do is to not think about your children. The thought occurred to me that children are a lot like miles. Some people can't imagine one. Others are happy to have two. Some like three. It is comfortable and there are lots of other people who do three. It's a nice stopping point, long enough for a race but short enough to eat before you head out. There are still others who dream of six or ten or twenty six or fifty. Some don't ever want to stop.

Some feel like each one is a gift from God and can cherish and enjoy each one as they are given. Some physically can't have one even though it is all they have dreamed of. Other's struggle with one or two. Some are easy and some are hard. Some make you mad when they don't go quite as you planned. Some make you crazy with all of their ups and downs. Some make you cry. Some make you laugh. Some make you suffer, but also make you feel like you grew in the end. Really each one is different, unique in the way that you handle them and the way they make you feel. Some are so bad that you swear you will never do it again. Others are so good you swear you could keep going forever.

The way I saw it that evening was insightful. I'm not really sure where I fit in the whole scheme of it all, but I do very much feel that miles and children are the same.

Running in The Rain

2011-04-27T11:11:00.000-07:00

It has been nothing short of wet here in Ohio. While my home in Texas is experiencing a drought and wild fires I am fighting off a moldy and damp basement, a swamp like backyard and rain. Lots of rain.

If I wait for a dry day then I will never get to run outside. So here I am braving a sometimes chilly often muddy run. At first it was weird and the girl inside me was scream "ick" and "my hair will be ruined!" everytime a drop of rain or splatter of mud graced my presence. But over the last month I have come to love a good sweaty run in the rain.

Today I ran a hilly course. It was muddy too. Very muddy. I was so glad for the cloud cover and the few blessed drops of rain that aided my tomato red sweaty face. I kicked mud up my legs and even slid a little down the hill. Totally satisfying. Nothing like a little dirt to prove that you worked hard and had a good time all in the same moment.

Being Present

2011-04-23T05:10:00.000-07:00

Lately I have found my self adrift in my own mental ocean. It's as if I am stranded there on a raft without a paddle meandering through the waves of whatever happens by. If I do happen to focus and pay attention I get mental whiplash from the shock of actually paying attention, that and because of my absentmindedness it is usually something alarming that catches my attention.

Don't get me wrong-none of my children have recently gone to the E.R. or even required band aids from this. It's just that my mind is going so often in so many radical directions that no one thing has had my attention for more than a few minutes. I find myself bumping into thoughts of a show watched days ago while crashing through weekend plans. That sort of thing.

In Yoga the last pose is all about being present, take that back. The whole class is about being present but the last pose is an exercise to be fully present in just that moment. To give yourself and that time all of your attention. Thinking about breathing and feeling and living. Not dishes, diapers or delivering. Not kids, candies, or cleaning. Just breathing.

I need to do more of just breathing and feeling in the moment. I need to turn of the distractions both mental and electrical. And just breath.

Purpose

2011-04-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

I have been reading Kristin Armstrong's "26.2 Reasons Women Run". It is wonderful! She is one of my favorite bloggers and this book is a compilation of her blog posts. One of the chapters in her book is dedicated to purpose. I really like the way she worded her idea of purpose (p168).

Just like an interrupting child, your purpose will poke at you relentlessly until you turn and give it some attention. I've written before on this subject, about women who say they were "born to be a mother" or "meant to be a wife". To that I reply, "Of course you were; you have a uterus and a ring finger. But those are your roles, not your purpose." And that distinction is important because a purpose is a higher, broader calling than a role. But together, the culmination of our roles and our purpose becomes our life and, eventually, our legacy.

This paragraph hasn't left my mind since I read it over a week ago. In the last few months I have felt myself defining myself in terms of mother only. I have had a difficult time transitioning from mother to wife or mother to friend or mother to coach or mother to Elizabeth or mother to runner or mother to crafter or mother to homemaker. I know that a large part of this is because I am a new mother for the third time. A large part of my time and energy goes toward sustaining the life of four other people. But as I have let this happen I begun to loose touch with the other parts of me. A purpose would help me feel more in touch, more focused, more energized.

I took this idea with me to the temple on Friday. I wanted a clearly defined purpose. Ironically I really didn't have much searching to do. I have been lead back to it time and time again, and there it is staring me in the face. I really feel like my purpose isn't too far from where I am at now, but that it will grow and transform as I do. The impression I felt was the same when I searched for a major it is to "strengthen home and family".

Mercy and Motherhood

2011-04-12T07:09:00.000-07:00

Since becoming a mother my perspective on a lot of principles have changed. As a child mercy meant forgiving me and letting me out of a punishment. As a high schooler it meant mom would stay up to put my clothes in the dryer for me. In college it meant an extra day to do an assignment. I was comfortable with mercy.

Now mercy is different. As a mother it no longer means that my heavy burden will be taken from me. It no longer means that the stretch and pain of growth is eliminated or that responsibilities are temporarily lifted. The dishes are not magically done, my clothes are not dried when I am too tired to do it, the kids are not extra good because I am extra tired, my pre-pregnancy clothes don't fit just because I had the baby. Mercy comes to me more in the way of opportunity.

My husband will have the opportunity to work over time on a busy night for me. Both kids will take a nap just in time for me to mop the floor or fix an early dinner. The forecast will clear enough that I can still go for a run. I will gather the energy to finish my day from some unknown reservoir. A sick child will be better in time for us to attend a social function.

Mercy also allows me a second chance to get it right. My children are always allowing me this mercy. They are so good at forgiving and understanding. They let me try to make it right and then they let the rest go. This is the sweetest mercy, a second chance.

Mercy no longer avoids work or growth or growing pains. Instead it gives me opportunities to become better, to do more, to fulfill responsibility.

Spring

2011-04-10T17:48:00.000-07:00

Today we tasted summer. It was nice after such a long and cold winter. We took Isabelle out without a jacket or blanket on for one of the first times in her life. She was so cute and aware, taking it all in.

I've been thinking about cycles, like summer, fall, spring, winter. Every change brings on a new set of problem solving and adapting. New stretches and new growth. And hopefully the old useless stuff falls off. I hope that this is true in my personal life. That as I go through these cycles of life that it refines me into a better person. That I aid in the process of refining my children into better people.

Lenting Chocolate

2011-04-05T11:46:00.000-07:00

Since Isabelle was born I have been on a chocolate rampage. It was never enough. I found myself seeking chocolate uncontrollably all hours of the day and night. It was a problem. Especially since I have some unwanted pounds. So I thought that I would use lent as an opportunity to break my chocolate habit. Ha ha. It has been 4 weeks.

The first two weeks of lent were spent discovering how entrenched chocolate is in my diet. Can I have white chocolate? Who knew that supposedly red velvet has chocolate in it? Not me. I was iffy about the white chocolate since it does not have cocoa in it but ultimately decided that it would simply act as a substitute for 'real' chocolate. Red velvet was simply ignorance on my part. Had no idea.

So two full weeks without any chocolate, although some close calls. I thought by now the cravings would have let up but they have not. My husband regularly asks me if I'm catholic and then taunts me with his increase in chocolate. The biggest thing I have learned from this is that I can do what I say I will do and I can keep promises.

Unfortunately the positive side effects I was hoping for are not there. I have not lost weight. I do not run faster. The cravings are still present. It feels more like a battle of will at this point. I can and will hold on but at this point it is solely because I said I would do it. So here's to two more weeks of chocolate-less bliss.

General Conference

2011-04-04T10:28:00.001-07:00

As I listened to General Conference, over the loudness of my children and their constant demands, the main message for me seemed to revolve around temples. I was listening to learn about Joseph Smith but I felt more impressed to focus on temples. I have struggled to attend the temple since moving here to Ohio and have definitely felt the resultant impact on my testimony. My spiritual reservoir is low and I need to refill it.
I guess overall I have felt the gentle pull of the Saviour to regain a deeper spirituality. It is nice to feel like I am stepping in the right direction. I have found some friends that have agreed to go with me to swap babysitting and I am excited to take them up on this offer. I am excited to follow the prophet's council and return the temple more frequently.

Spring

2011-04-03T14:15:00.000-07:00

Now that it is spring our basement isn't nearly as cold. Still cold but not as cold. I am now more willing to come down here and pluck out a few things. The last couple of months have brought changes.

Josh is talking a lot and expressing his opinions. A lot. He asks "Mommy holdge me" or "daddy holdge me". He says "No mommy" and "Sit mommy". So cute! But also naughty. Just like Abby he has me running around like a crazy woman. Unlike Abby he is aggressive to other kids. We are working with that. In part I think it is because he seems to always be tired.

He does not sleep well. There is a recently ray of hope. A kind angel in our ward gave us a new pillow top twin bed for Josh. He has slept a lot better the last few nights. I feel more confident asking him to go to sleep on his own. I am starting to feel optimistic that his sleep will improve.

Abby is just getting older. I think she is almost thirteen. Or so she acts. She likes Justin Beiber, I think, because everyone else seems too. She is quickly learning to read and I am cherishing her notes that become more and more proficient everyday. Someday soon she will look at these notes and see her 'creative' spelling. I love it. I love her eagerness to learn. It makes up for the annoying things she does-which are many.

She adores Isabelle and wants to be involved as much as possible. She has started to clean really well. Probably annoyed at my post-baby house cleaning. Either way it is nice to see her take pride in her room and our home.

Isabelle has done so much. Learning to belly laugh and roll over. She is working very hard at sitting up. She goes a little longer everyday. Soon I will be able to just sit her down. She is eating solid foods very well. She actually eats and even enjoys baby oatmeal with juice- pear is her favorite. She is perfect in every way. I am so lucky to have such a good natured baby.

I have been running more. I finished my first quilt with a lot of help and am working on my second quilt, with a lot of help. I am now Abby's soccer coach. That is interesting. I have great hope. Mostly my days are full of mothering.

Adam goes to school and church. In his spare time he plays with the kids.

New Years Resolutions

2011-02-17T14:07:00.000-08:00

What? New Years Resolutions? What? I know that it is half way through February. Clearly timely recording is not one of my resolutions. I have however had these goals in mind for quite some time. Now it is time to commit. Part of my hesitancy is that they are so personal. So personal.

So my first resolution is to be a better wife. Every few years I try to challenge myself this way. Being a better wife sounds a lot like being a better human being. So vague. I recently read a talk by President Hinckley called "Forgiveness". He talked about spouses who nag and harrass over small things. I also read a post by Kristin Armstrong called "Talk Nice" about talking nicely about ourselves and those around us. That's as deep as I'll go here. Like I said, it is pretty personal.

So my next resolution is to gain a stronger knowledge and testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith.

My third resolution is to get a PR on a 5k. By the end of the year I want to comfortably run a sub 27 min 5k. I may challenge myself more, but for now this is my goal. I've signed up for a 5k in May. If I don't do it there then I will have several options throughout the year. There is a 10 or 10 that I want to run the Saturday before Father's Day that I will do if I get my 5k goal in May. I really want to try for the 10 miler, but that requires a time commitment that I'm really unsure about. I may just have to focus on speed this year.

Three Kids

2011-02-17T13:53:00.000-08:00

It seems like there are a million things I want to write about. My new years resolutions, my kids, thoughts about spirituality, running...so much. I think I will write about three kids today.

One of the most terrifying things about being pregnant again was the simple fact that I would have three kids. For months I begged advice and stories and ideas from mommies of three plus. None of it was terribly encouraging.

First of all, I absolutely love my baby girl, my little boy, and my energetic kindergartener. Each of them individually are wonderful and even well behaved. Even paired with one another isn't so bad. But the three together, well the highs are higher and the lows are so much lower.
Screaming in stereo was bad with two, but three? Deafness has already set in. Three kids to clean up after? Three different age groups to entertain? AAAAAGGGG

Three fast asleep kids? Three laughing playing kids? Three kids listening intently to a story? Three kids bowing their heads queitly during a prayer? It's a piece- a small sliver- of heaven in my home. There are clear moments of joy that carry me through the hours,even days, of hard work. Isabelle laughing, smiling. Josh saying a prayer. Abby telling me about her day.

It's making those moments happen more often that I am trying to accomplish. They seem to come and go without any predictability. This is the hardest lesson of motherhood. To just enjoy the moments of heaven without pouring over how to recreate them. Because in all honesty I have replicated exactly certains days of my life all with different outcomes. I think the key is being open to the possibility of a good time when it rolls along.
Siezing the day.
So three kids right now is challenging, but rewarding. It is an amplified state of where I was.

Leaving Ur

2011-02-06T12:10:00.000-08:00

leaving ur

I read this article by Kristin Armstrong (one of my favorite bloggers). I thought about my own Ur. In some very tangible ways I feel like I have left Ur. I live in Ohio thousands of miles from my Texas home, with only new friends to greet us. We live literally every year differently and without knowledge of where we are going to live and when we will get there or how it will all happen. The constant that is most important is trusting the Lord.

I still find it difficult to always trust that this is right. That HOW we are doing it is right. That WHERE we are is right. I find myself in need of a lot or reassurance. This is new to me and my husband. No one is really mentoring us through this process. We are guided by God, I believe, but not really any one person here on earth. Don't get me wrong, we have some fantastic cheerleaders, but for them this is new too.

tangent: When I think about our journey here it helps me feel compassionate towards other people who venture out beyond the landscapes that their families have already made. I often hear about welfare recipients and why don't they do more for themselves. Or children of High School dropouts. These are people at the bottom of the wrung. Who seemingly don't do the basic civility of providing for themselves and bettering their situation so that they can provide for themselves..

It's scary and hard and most importantly unknown.

Forging the path is difficult when no one is there holding your hand through it. There is so much that I hope to pass on to our children that will make their journey easier. Conversely we have struggled so much where others glide by and that alone has granted us trouble. I can see now why more poverty stricken people don't change their situation. Not because it is comfortable but because it is known.
End Tangent

In other ways, much more private ways, I still need to heed that call to pack up and leave. Again it is hard but mostly unknown. It requires more than measurable trust and almost equal work. Being the mother of three has rocked my world. Having a husband that is gone at school or church is painstaking. Doing it without family brings me to a place I have never before known.

But God has provided. He has provided the friends that are my Ohio family. He has proven His trustworthiness. He has given me strength to do the work. And he leads me ever on. I just hope that I continue to have the faith to follow.

Isabelle

2011-02-02T15:57:00.000-08:00

I made this picture extra large so you could tell that I put brush strokes on it. Anyway I've been having fun with photo shop. There's so much more to post. So many ups and downs. Just need to get to it.

Bird House Box

2010-12-17T07:33:00.000-08:00

Occasionally, out of the blue, Josh will repeat "Bird! House! Box!". It is with a fearful look and much drama that these words are repeated. He looks over at me for reassurance and points to the kitchen. He is clearly traumatized. As was I. I think all of us are traumatized.

I never knew that I feared birds. But. I. do. Apparently I fear them a lot. I still feel shaky inside when I think about Bird House Box.

Across from our side door(if you live outside of Ohio read "back door") there is a HUGE vine. It is on the side of our neighbors house. It occupies dozens possibly hundreds of little birds. They cheep and chatter all the time. There is fluttering and a lot of fighting. I've seen more than one wounded bird leaping away. It is quite the hot spot. Literally there is a vent or something that keeps it warm.

When Izzy was two weeks old and we were getting ready to go to the doctor for her check up, well that's when it happened. Adam was helping me because I am a wuss and almost refuse to take Josh and another child anywhere. Love that boy but he is a handful.

Adam came in through the side door when it made it's attack. The bird flew right into my house. My house with curtains, and couches, carpet, food, pictures, dishes, my BRAND NEW BABY, and my not so brand new BABY.

I hate bird poop. Dad gets the 'cool' parking spot in Texas under the tree. He also gets the bird poop.

After discovering that there was a bird in my house I screamed and screamed loud. I screamed because I did not want to have disease icky bird poop in my house. But also, a little part of my screamed because I swear the bird threatened me with its mind powers "I will pluck your eyes out and then poop on your babies!!!"

It then flew at me. I swear. In the kitchen it flew. Around my food, my dishes, my sink that I clean and prepare my food around, my stove, my refrigerator.

By this time Adam, mountain man Adam, was there calm. He said the bird had been in the house for a while and that he let it in. Like it was a house cat we purchased together. "It's just a bird. I'll get it out in a little while. Stop screaming."

Bird moved. I screamed. I panicked. I hid my newest baby. But my boy who I could not as easily hide I clutched to me. Just like any momma bear would do. I clutched and screamed.

He then screamed. We screamed. A lot. I told Adam to get it with a box.

Adam realized that telling me to not scream wouldn't work. We had to get the bird out. I told him that I don't want any kind of bird in my house, including a dead one. I said "Get a Box. BOX BOX."

I was really scared. It was flying around my kitchen. Where I make food for my babies.

I thought I should help, should do something. So I unclutched my son who then freaked out. So I clutched him and screamed again. It just felt right. We found a box and threw it towards Adam who was in my wildlife preserve of a kitchen.

I tried so hard to help. I got myself in the kitchen. The terdy birdy was taunting me with its beady eyes and powers of flight. It pooped. Screaming lots of screaming.

Ultimately I tried to help but mostly damaged the hearing of my boys. We ended up opening the window. The bird did not fly out as hoped. I tried desperately to help by shaking the curtains but was too scared by the pooping flying bird.

Hours later. The open window trick. Adam coaxing it alone. Me in a corner clutching my babies. praying. Finally the bird, tossed out the window, flew away.

Josh is still pointing to the kitchen "Bird, House Box!"

Prologue.

I hate the birds that live in our neighbors vine. The stupid icky pooping house invaders have not flown south for the winter. I am terrified of leaving the side door open for any amount of time. Why don't they fly south forever? Why hasn't the freezing weather killed them? Why don't they die? I am severely temped to throw snowballs at the vine. I've tried shouting "South! South!" at them but they ignore me. I hate them.

Recipes

2010-12-17T07:10:00.000-08:00

Here are some of my most recent yummy recipes. That I love.

Portobello, broccoli, and red pepper melts

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Parmesan crusted pork chops

There have to be more. I tried, and failed, to make homemade rolls. Rhodes are still the way for me to go. For now. I think they would turn out better if I had a handy dandy Kitchen Aid or some kind of sturdy stand mixer or a hand mixer that wasn't dying a slow smelly death...

Church and blogging wierdness.

2010-12-17T07:04:00.000-08:00

I went to church for the first time since Izzy was born. I blog stalked the ladies in our ward who have blogs. It was a way to try and still feel connected and socially relevant. The ironic part is that when I saw these people at church I realized that most of them don't have a clue about who I am, but scarier they have no idea what I know about them.

I suddenly felt as though I were a peeping tom or participating in some form of voyeurism. If I was a religious commenter maybe some of these feelings would go away, but I still think that I was feeling like my online 'community' was a sham. Only one of these blogs has stirred me into an actual face to face friendship.

I often forget that these platforms are really just a jumping point. After that you need to make the connection, the in the flesh connection. I need that. They need that.

I left church feeling socially wary and awkward as anyone who misses six consecutive weeks would feel. Except I knew things about people. Things they didn't know that I knew.

The weird thing is that when I hear that people I don't know or barely know read my blog it doesn't bother me. I don't feel like I am especially exposed or exploited. I understand that this is a public blog and that people are going to read it. They may gain a greater insight into who I am or they may misinterpret my tone or way of being. They may feel like they know me well when they meet or observe me or they may feel like they misjudged who I was.

I touch blogging

2010-12-07T09:56:00.000-08:00

I'm still trying to figure out how to blog on my I touch. If I could just post pictures I would almost never go into the basement/ice locker. It has snowed non stop for three days. I threw a full on throw myself on the floor temper tantrum complete with crying this morning. The sun came out for a few minutes but the snow did not stop.

On another note I've noticed that since giving birth my social skills have taken a dive right along with my house cleaning and domestic skills. If you ask me what time it is apparently I have an uncontrollable vomit of the brain and must disclose some long drawn out story or two before answering you question. I became aware of this only recently, and noticed the intensity just yesterday. So I am now aware.

Also I want to blog about the bird in the house.

This blog post randomness is just am example of the ramblings that surround a sleep deprived hormonal new mom of three.

Titles

2010-11-29T11:30:00.000-08:00

Here's a sampling of potential post titles:

What I learned in my 20's
I'm 30, now what...
Sick, sick, sick
Happy Thanksgiving
I get lost looking at her
When did Abby grow up?
Black Friday!!!
Yummy Recipes
Blindsided
Can you brush a baby's hair off?
Everybody poops, mommy cleans it up...
Stop Josh Stop
I love my I-touch

I'll probably post a few of these. In the meantime here's some eye candy.

Izzy today.

Cheese Grommit

2010-11-19T14:46:00.000-08:00

One of the greatest disapointments of my adult life is the low nutritional value of cheese. I wish that I could count cheese as a complete meal. I just found out that cheese does not contain Vitamin D, even though milk and yogurt do. Cheese is great, though.

But it is fattening and has fairly low nutritional value, which is why it is usually counted more as a garnishment, or at best a side food. Think how awesome it would be to have a piece of cheesecake and justify it because it has cheese in it. Or to eat a grilled cheese sandwich and justify all that butter because of the high nutritional content of the cheese.

This is on the eve of cheese leaving my diet. Izzy has been fussy and I can just feel it beginning. My other two children were allergic or whatever (read have massive explosive diarrhea episodes every couple of hours) to cheese. Izzy isn't bad yet. It usually peaks around 6-9 months and then slowly gets better. I'm holding out for now. Just slowly easing up on it.

I just wish that I could justify eating cheese as an entire meal and dessert because of it's incredible nutritional value. I think I could do it atleast once a day.

Joshy

2010-11-13T08:01:00.000-08:00

We took Josh to the doctor for his 2 year check. He still hasn't grown since we've moved here. He is in 3% for his age. The doctor thinks that he might have the same constitutional growth delay that Adam had. The other idea is that he might be HGH deficient. Since we wouldn't start treatment until he is 4 or 5 she recommended giving him another year to try and grow.

She recommended pushing Vitamin D and Calcium to see if we can, I guess, encourage him to grow more. The only problem is the kid hates milk. A lot. Even with loads of chocolate in it. He doesn't even really like ice cream. We already feed him everything fortified. We started gummy vitamins. I'm going to keep trying on the milk front. He is super cute, super active and super smart. And super small.

Grandma

2010-11-06T13:41:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken right before we left for the hospital. Abby was a mess. She just cried and cried. She held on to me and did everything that she could to stop me from leaving. I knew that she would be okay but it was really hard to let her go. I didn't really know how long it would be before I would see but I knew that it wouldn't be too long and that she would be taken care of while I was gone. I knew she would be okay and she was.

My mommy left today. I cried and cried. I did everything I could to stop her from leaving. But she left anyway. Maybe she knows that I'll be okay and taken care of until we see each other again. But just like Abby I wished she would have stayed.

Isabelle Ashley Clare Brown

2010-10-30T21:12:00.000-07:00

Born 10-30-10 2:43 pm
Weight 7 lbs 12 oz
Length 19 inches

Stubborn Baby

2010-10-29T15:17:00.000-07:00

So I tried to have a baby today. Really really hard. Cervadil last night/this morning and pitocin for 10 hours today. Still no baby. We are starting over with Cervadil tonight and will see what the morning brings. Hopefully a baby.

Grrr

2010-10-18T13:18:00.000-07:00

I no longer know how to post pictures to my blogger account. I'm not a computer wizard. The button should just work.
Don't worry. I'm not trying to post pictures of a baby or of me in labor. (eww you wouldn't want to see that last one anyway). Just pictures because my blog seems dull without them. The video of Josh climbing the van wouldn't take either. That was a good one. He's quite adventerous.

Pregnancy #3 is going to be a long rant. But I don't feel like doing it right now. It's fall and pretty so I should be in a good mood. I want to make dinner and take the kids to the mall park and forget that I am pregnant at all.

Adam is officially in panic mode for tests. I think that all the guys are. Soon his memory will rival an alzheimer's patient's and he will ask me things in another medical language. I won't know but it won't matter. His mind will find the answer to that and forget where the toilet paper is. or his keys. He will stop eating and sleeping and functioning as a human altogether and morph into 'podiatry student #xxx'. I'm already anxious for two weeks from now.

pregnancy part 1

2010-10-11T13:58:00.000-07:00

I've tried not to obsess too much about being pregnant but now that I am at the pinnacle it is hard for me and others to ignore. Badgered everyday by complete strangers advice and questions about my lady parts in addition to the very realistically excessive weight I am carrying around it is hard for it not to consume my whole world. Plus a human is literally going to come out of me in a couple of weeks. Very uhhh consuming.

Subject #1 Old Men

Lately this old guy at Bally's with a thick european accent has been really weird around me. First of all he is grandpa old.   Like he could be my grandpa or maybe even my dad's grandpa old. Second of all he embodies a lot of the things that makes me feel like an agist prick. He smells like baby powder, oils his hair, gets to close, lacks basic social skills, anticipates that his every word will be taken as golden droplets of pure truth with the strength of super glue. Third he tells me that pregnancy is sexy.

Old men, like as in more than 5 years (being generous here) older than me, should not say the word sexy. Ever. And young men, as in more than 5 years younger than me, should just think it is a word in Justin Timberlake songs.  This is a droplet of golden truth with the strength of super glue.

Anyway he does super annoying things that I can't really tell on him about. I can't really complain to the management that he is old and used the word sexy.  I don't think that they could do anything but tell him that he bugs me, something I do with every ounce of body language; which is a lot these days.

Today he told me that he thinks I work too hard. Which means he watches me. Ewww. Then he told me that he thought another pregnant lady that is due in december, that he apparently stalks, is lazy. She is still at the gym. This made me mad. Very very very very mad. Like smash his face with my car mad.

Just to be clear I don't participate in conversations with him. He needs no eye contact or verbal cues to continue talking. In fact he stands behind whatever weight machine I'm on and talks to me.

It made me mad that based solely on his stalking and oldness factor he had the audacity to judge and compare me and someone else. I've had an exceptionally good pregnancy. If I had the capacity to enjoy pregnancy this would be the one to enjoy. Second of all no pregnant lady in a gym can be lazy. It's just not possible. Even walking up stairs winds you. It is almost impossible to be lazy as a pregnant person. Third, he clearly has never done it. Thank heavens he reminds me that he has never successfully procreated, which means that he also has never even helped someone else do it. What a butt.

Also he should never ever watch me. He should just look at gym equipment. Maybe use it.

Subject #2

Clothes suck during pregnancy.

They are cute when you are in your second semester.

Then your third trimester hits and you are the shape of that planet with rings and lots of moons all encompassed by skin. That is all the hold me together is skin. Who knew that pregnancy is so lumpy. Nothing like the basketball that you shove under your shirt when you are trying to scare your husband before you have kids. Really much more like a planet surrounded by rings and moons held together under a stretched out zebra looking type of skin.

Clothing manufacter's don't know how to dress saturn/venus mixed bodies. They don't. So you can wear a heavy tent that still doesn't cover everything or you can wear clothes that are more normal that don't cover everything...

Today I got a little crazy. Normally I do the mirror check and I change clothes a few times. Even then it's barely tolerable. Today I was in a big hurry so I did not do a mirror check. I wore maternity pants with Adam's polo. I thought that it would be okay.   I looked exactly like a planet with rings and lots of moons. I could be a poster child for teens to not get pregnant. "Look you have to dress ugly while you are pregnant. Don't have sex!"

I'm having an even harder time this pregnancy because I really don't want to spend any money clothes that I am going to wear for just a few months. I have a maternity wardrobe I shouldn't have to buy more clothes. But nothing fits. Nothing. Even when I go to the store to buy things they either fall right off or show every detail that would shame even an astrologer. I'm not naturally modest either. Sorry world. Look for me at that Walmart shame website.

Benign Terrorism

2010-10-05T19:01:00.000-07:00

Some of you know that I have a passive-aggressive streak. For instance this past summer as Adam and I were folding clothes my darling husband came out with an outrageous accusation. He accused me of intentionally loading all of his clothes with the old dryer sheets. He complained that it seemed to him that he was the only one who had dryer sheets in his clothes.

It was such a genius idea. It is so cathartic to put old dryer sheets in his socks or pockets, sleeves. I've tried to find places where he won't notice them until lunch or have a friend pluck one from the back of his shirt. Very cathartic when more random and untrue accusations come my way...or just when I am upset but not enough to really say anything...or when he couldn't do anything to change it anyway. Harmless most days. Other days it might send him into a sneaky hate spiral *this particular post does contain "language"*

Anyway you get the point. I have a passive aggressive side.

So I've decided that my GPS is controlled by non-commital terrorists. The less passionate part of terrorism that doesn't make it into the news. They hate, they have opinions, but they don't want to waste their energy or voice trying to get their message out there. Too much effort.

Instead they made their own generic GPS brand at a slightly cheaper rate so that suckers like me would use them. I have a mio. The mio is a great passive aggressive tool.

First of all I'm convinced that the randomly red/green satelite tracker is a camera. When the said terrorist cannot see my face the satelite will go out and require re-adjustment. This give the viewer optimal viewage of my frusteration.

The next step just depends on how much time my GPS terrorist has.

Sometimes they will take me a very direct route only to have me make a perfect 1 mile square around my required destination causing me to be late even if I leave 1/2 hour early. Ofcourse this also give me 1 square mile to get lost on my own. Also amusing. Amusing to watch me continuing to make the same sequential right hand turns and then wait while the mio recalculates and has me go around the block again.

When they have some time they can be very creative. Avoiding all highways except toll roads, knowing from the hidden camera that I have .30 less than the required toll. And ofcourse the toll does not lead me where I want to go. I will have to turn around, or better yet take surface streets.

You know the streets where every crossroad is a stop sign. And ofcourse it is late at night. And some how I am in the dangerous part of cleveland when I needed to be closer to Akron. Then the GPS recalculates and tells me that I am 20 miles from my destination. Really I am 2 miles if I could just find the !@)#(*#%^) highway.

The highway is also a wonderful tool. Since you have to merge and take all sorts of not clearly marked highway signs (why don't they just say "This way is home" It would be so much easier). Cleveland loves to have 3 exits or merges all at once. The GPS terrorists helped plan this part of Cleveland.

It is highly satisfying to lead you to one of these junctions and then recalculate your route. Or tell you to get off at the next exit. There is an arrow that takes up the entire part of the picture that tells which exit to take. You will never take the right one and it will take atleast 8 miles one way to turn around. Highly enjoyable.

Ofcourse then you get to the part where the user (me) tries to beat the GPS. This is where they suddenly get smart. I print off mapquest directions and use the GPS. Just to prove that it is a piece of junk that does not deserve a spot on the windshield where I could be looking at a dead bug. Or traffic. This is where they start messing with the mileage and ETA.

I am obsessed with the mileage and ETA functions of the GPS. I feel so good when I can make the ETA go down by one minute. If I need to speed and cut off a cop it is worth it. When it is a long trip and I can make it go down by like 20 minutes it is so rewarding. I've decided that it is like the "close door" button on the elevator. It's not real. It's the GPS terrorists.

This is where their plan is so awesome. If I follow the mapquest directions they add minutes and mileage. Always. They can sense my lack of confidence. I begin to forgive the GPS. Start to think that it is better than mapquest, or worse my own weak knowledge of Cleveland. Clearly if I am adding beloved minutes and mileage then I should have just followed the GPS.

I feel inferior and resolve to just trust the GPS that will tell me that my destination is another 1/4 mile ahead when it is clearly right there. Right there on the side of the road, no really right there. I can see it but maybe I'll get minutes and mileage if I go around the block again.

A T-Shirt for Josh

2010-09-27T08:57:00.000-07:00

On the rare occasion that I leave Josh with someone else I am always very concerned for them. And if they have small children, their children. As I was saying goodbye to him on Friday for a much needed break I desperately wanted to warn the charming couple about my son. I thought I should have made him a t-shirt so they would have it on hand.

WARNING:
I throw food when I am done with it
I pour/fling drinks for fun, then cry for more
It's not an accident when I jump off the couch head first
Head wounds bleed a lot, but generally I'm okay
I climb the curtains. I go down the tallest slide head first.
I don't wait for anyone. I will jump of the side of anything.
I like to chase cars. Shrek and Buzz Lightyear are my best friends.
If I poop once, then I will continue pooping every 30 minutes for a few hours.
I like to burp. I open medicine bottles, any kind.
I like wallets. I like the cards in the wallets.
I like heater vents. I like to put things in the heater vents. Like cards from your wallet
I will push every button, figurative and real.
I pull Abby's hair when I am bored.
I carry things as heavy as me, and then drop them when I see you.
I love to be chased. I love to throw things away. Especially things from your wallet.
I eat money. I can dismantle a computer and unlock anything.
I love phones, and electronics. They taste good.
I take saliva baths on my way to church. For fun.
Sisters are for teasing. I want you to feed me so that I can fling my (fill in the blank).
I have never ending boogers. I always have.
I eat fruit snacks non-stop through out the day.
I swing on doors. I can tell when you have to go to the bathroom and will make every attempt to thwart you from the necessary action...

Nipple Chafing

2010-09-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

So there have been a few things that have made me think of this. First, Andy getting chafed nipples on this episode of "The Office". Then a series of products advertised on runnesworld. Finally, a whole article dedicated to male nipple chafing.

I asked a few of Adam's podiatry buddy's if they had ever had nipple chaffage and they said they had. Until these recent events I thought it was just a funny thing people said. Not an actual problem.

Now I am totally obsessed with what kind of nipple chafes. Mine don't, and I've never heard of it reference to women before. Adam's don't. What makes a nipple chafe? Do they have to be very pointy? Is size a factor? What about man boob syndrome? Does that contribute? Is it really related to t-shirt texture as so many guys claim?

I've heard that not even bandaids help. There are creams and all sorts of products related to this, but really besides going topless, they are going to chafe. Or so it seems.

This has also led me to the age-old debate about why do men have nipples in the first place. If you suffer frome excessive nipple bleeding/chafing is removing them an option? Can doctors create a fake nipple that doesn't bleed or cause pain? Would insurance cover it? I would lobby for insurance coverage of nipple replacement for extreme nipple chafing. The alternative it seems is actually seeing a lot of man nipple. I don't enjoy it. And now I will forever wonder if they chafe.

Re-Do

2010-09-24T12:03:00.000-07:00

I've been in the middle of rearranging our house. We are making Joshy a room and making an office in the basement and rearranging furniture and painting and sewing and cleaning and accumulating and getting rid of and cooking and cleaning and rearranging and making space in our room for a little girl and going to dr's appointments and working out and going to school and church and school and church and school and church and school and one of us is napping. That's right one. Just one. Pictures will follow soon. Just not quite yet.

Joshy

2010-09-20T06:44:00.000-07:00

Most of the time when I look at Joshy I see this:

After yesterday, and last night, and this morning I see this:

I still love him. But this morning this is what I saw.

Josh at the park in Midland.

2010-09-16T14:05:00.000-07:00

love

this

boy

One of my favorite pictures

2010-09-15T17:00:00.000-07:00

This is another Labor Day weekend picture. I really love it. You can tell how excited they all are to be outside on a nice day. To be free. There was nothing there to hurt them and nothing there to scare them. They could just go. Without worry. I haven't taken the time to just let my cares go like this. It would feel so good.

Labor Day with the Wilson's

2010-09-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

I should be making dinner for my kids but for the first time all day no one is crying.

Last weekend we took a trip to Midland MI to see the Wilson's. We were lucky enough that we were able to be there for Andrew's blessing too! We had a ton of fun playing with our fun friends. >Josh is now crying<

Abby's First Day of Kindergarten

2010-09-08T14:24:00.000-07:00

This might look like an Eggo commercial but it is actually just what we ate for breakfast on Abby's first day of school. I felt that it was important to document that we do eat breakfast. This year.

Here is Abby leaving the house. I was already crying. I knew better than to wear mascara. I actually cried before that first picture when I was packing her lunch. Because she wasn't going to be eating lunch with me everyday. Don't worry I stopped by and ate lunch with her everyday the first week...

Here she is humoring me before bounding into her kindergarten class. I was inundated by both Abby and Miss Boodan saying "She can do it herself". Ugghhh I thought I stopped babying Abby when Josh came along. Guess I was wrong.

I love her and I miss her everyday.

He's Got the Look

2010-08-31T13:10:00.000-07:00

Today I took Josh to CVS with me. I was buying 15 boxes of kleenex and a bottle of dawn. Sounds pretty straight forward right? Nope. First I had to chase him from aisle to aisle and made some superficial attempts at replacing the zillions of items he dumped to the ground after pronouncing it "cute". I tried to get him to help with the Kleenex's with NO success. Finally I trapped him in the basket and managed to stave off the head first dives with my arm as I pushed my basket to the front. It's always in the checkout lane where humiliation really intensifies. The clerk and I figured out that I picked out 6 wrong boxes for the coupons I was using. Since there was no one in the line I jetted back with Josh "the human tongue" wriggling in my arms to get the correct boxes. Somehow with his super tongue abilities he slipped out of my arms and with that look in his eyes he ran away squealing like a pig on speed. I trotted after him, spaceship belly in tow. Luckliy, I thought, he was headed for the clerk. As she finished up my order, I chased after the greased pig with onlookers galore. I finally caught him and jailed him in the basket and tried to load my hoards of kleenex's with him. How naive am I? Every bag that passed his jailed domain was stripped and the kleenex boxes chucked to the floor. Some angel came and asked how she could help me. I asked her to load the cart while I restrained Josh. She even pushed the cart out to my car! She was really apprecaited today. 20 feet was all it was but it saved me more humiliation and sweet time.

I should...and my what a grouchy pregnant lady you are...

2010-08-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

post about Abby's first day, but since I am not yet emotionally stable about the whole thing yet it will have to wait. Don't worry about Abby though, she is doing great.
Here I am in my last couple of months of pregnancy (supposedly) and I have already given up the drive to run. Outside. I haven't run for about two weeks now. It feels like forever. I take early morning walks much to the dismay of my husband and squeeze in atleast thirty minutes on the eliptical machines. I thought atleast at the gym I would be free of comments. I'm fairly good at ignoring the general population, smell included, of a gym. But today some old guy came to the machine right next to me. There were like 3 other available machines that he could have chosen that were not right next to me. This was rule #1 that he broke. Then he stared at me and began a conversation. Rule #2 broken. He then told me how great he thought it was that I was still going. Like my heart and legs and brain are supposed to stop. Like I am a terminaly ill patient. Rule #3 broken. He then decided to ask me how many other children I have and how far apart they are and my goodness how close they are! His meandering sperm only managed to knock up 3 women in a space of 15 years! How dare I in a committed relationship stumble upon 3 children in 5 years! Well I certainly have my hands full and no wonder I am working out. I really wanted to hurt this guy. Really bad. He broke every rule I have about going to the gym and being in public generally. I want a work out tech tee that boldly states "I HATE OLD MEN".

Buddy Walk 2010

2010-08-23T09:29:00.000-07:00

This last Saturday the kids and I went to the 2010 Buddy Walk. We walked with Sawyer's Soldiers, sponsoring a cute little boy who I taught in Nursery. It was really fun. We all walked around Progressive Field, jumped and slid on inflatible bounce houses, got tattoed, and face-painted. They also served lunch. It was a great time.

Abby and Emma during the walk.

Josh playing peekaboo during the walk. He had already torn his shirt off.

5 days

2010-08-20T13:29:00.000-07:00

I have 5 days until my daughter officially starts school. 5 days left of her wild curly hair and wild demeanor pooring through my house. 5 days left of temper tantrums, fights, and HUGE messes caused by her. 5 days left of her asking to help clean, cook, and play with Joshy. 5 days left of lunches together everyday. 5 days left of boredom together. 5 days left of spontaneous fun together. 5 days left together.

Forgiving Myself

2010-08-19T13:11:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged for a long time because I got behind. And then I thought I needed to catch up. And then things piled up. I have a lot of pictures from Indiana and DC and being home. We've had a blast swimming at the middleburgh heights pool and going to various parks around here and just being at home. We have struggled with teething and allergies and tempter tantrums and doctor's appointments and dentist appointments. We have gotten up early and slept in. There. I think I covered it. I can now move on.

Most of the blogs I've wanted to write have been much more essay opinionated blogs. Some of them have been shareable and others that will remain in the recesses of my brain. Today, however, I wanted to share a few recipe's that my family LOVES.

We love penne rustica (http://excellenteats.blogspot.com/2010/02/penne-rustica.html) and orange chicken and chicken enchiladas . As always we love stromboli. I made up my own grilled cheese and ham recipe. You butter both sides of a peice of toast grill one side of both pieces of bread and put ham on skillet and let it brown. Flip them over, lightly spread spicy mustard on one peice add pepper jack cheese to the other slice and cheddar to the other and ham inbetween. Smoosh them together after the bread is browned and enjoy! You may want to keep Tums on hand for afterward...and own a treadmill for later that night when the guilt stops by.

Adam's first week off

2010-08-09T17:48:00.000-07:00

We went all over northeast ohio during the first week and a half of Adam's break. The zoo, the rainforest, Rocky River Reservation, the natural history museum to name a few. It was nice to know our area better.

Broken Phone line

2010-08-02T09:10:00.001-07:00

We came home on Saturday with a rude surprise. A few actually. We are without phone/internet until Thursday. Something happened, we don't know what and it will take them that long to fix it. So that's where I am.

Camping at Geneva State Park and other fun adventures

2010-07-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

This last week we stuck close to cleveland but we did a lot of stuff. We went to the RainForest at the Cleveland Zoo, which was really fun. And ofcourse for our budding dino baby we went through the dino exhibit. Josh loved each and every dinosaur taking time to examine each one. Abby was excited to be squirted by the dino's that squirt water at you. It was a hot day!
The next day we went to the Natural History Museum. We spend ALL day there and still didn't see everything they had. We really liked their dino section (for obvious Joshy reasons). They also had a nice living history museum (little zoo) and a fun discovery zone.
On Wednesday we headed to Rocky River Reservation and walked all around this huge tundra. It helped keep us cool and we had a beautiful bird's eye view of the Rocky River that empty's into Lake Erie. We took Lainee with us on that trip and she had a blast chasing squirrels and chipmunks. The kids both had fun chasing her.
Thursday we stayed home and packed for our camping trip on Friday. It was the first time that I can remember being at a campsite before dusk! I love it! We pitched our tent and headed over to Geneva State Park's Beach. Wow! I have to say it was wonderful. The lake was clean and so was the beach. I was worried about how hot it was until we dipped in and then everyone cooled right off. We stayed until the ominous clouds in the sky and the lifegaurds chased us out. We rinsed off and then headed to our friends campsite for some hot dogs. Not much later it started to rain, heavily. We didn't even get to make s'mores! The rain came down and the floods came up and needless to say our little campsite was flooded. We ended up driving the hour home and sleeping in our own beds. It was good too because we ended up with a flat tire. The next morning after getting it fixed we headed back up to the state park. Our friends, who braved the storm, told us that we had squatters on our campsite. We talked to the park ranger and got a refund. We spend the rest of the day at the beach. The kids loved every minute of it and so did we. So much in fact that we did not take a single picture. We used floaties to surf the kid sized waves. There was a long sandbar that was pefect for us to play in. It was a great week!

Another Running Entry? Really?

2010-07-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

Yep, really. Anyway I am definitely to the point in pregnancy where there are good days and bad days. Just a week ago I took a leisurely 4.5 mile run. It felt really great and I thought I could do it hours before going into labor. Then there are days when I look at the floor from my bed and just will my body to move. And nothing in the way of movement occurs.
Today I accidently slept in. We are dog sitting a beautiful mutt who loves to bark at the most inopportune moments. Like right before I am getting ready to get my stuff on to go running. She barked and barked and woke up Josh so instead of stealthily (ha ha like I could do that when I'm not pregnant nontheless toting around St Nick's stomach) slipping out the door I layed in bed and cuddled my baby. And slept until 8. instead of 6. The big deal here is the temperature. Ohio is by no means hot but since my core temp runs a little hotter now, plus the exertion of said St Nick Belly, I can't make myself run in temps above 75. Plus my ob/gyn said not to. It was only 2 degrees more than that when I finally headed out. 77 should be no biggy for a Texas native but today it stopped me in my tracks. with a dog desperately trying to pull me forward. I made it all of 1/3 mile. And then headed home. Too hot.
I read Kristin Armstrong's latest post and wished for non-pregnant days. Days when I am not sharing my body in one way or another. Alone. Where the only one who depends on my body is me. Even just for a few hours, just me. I know that this will happen one day. It just is a lot of days, months, and even years away.

Weinee's

2010-07-16T06:20:00.000-07:00

Last night Abby had a tee ball game. I was there with Josh and he was busy. He played catch with one of the dad's for a good while but when that lost his interest he moved on. He moved on to an older gentleman and his wife who were watching their granddaughter play. He walked over and played with this guys keys that were attached to his belt loop via a carribeaner. I was right there, nervous, but as far as I could tell it was okay. He went through each one of the keys with the Grandpa who seemed happy with the attention. Tee ball is not a very exciting game. Right as Josh seemed he was going to head off into another direction he got his pointy little finger and jammed it into this unsuspecting Grandpa's crotch and yelled "Weinee!!!" I apologized and then said I was going to go die on the other side of the field. And I did, trails of laughter from the victim and wife trailing after me.

Ultimate Direction Strider Women's Hydration Pack

2010-07-10T05:25:00.000-07:00

I took that baby for a run this morning. It's my new best friend. Totally worth every penny I paid for it. On another note I do not understand why people think that telling me their wild ferocious growling fanged large dog 'would never hurt anything' as it is lunging for anything with a heart beat should calm me down as I pass the strained 'walker'. I feel like I should carry some sort of defense just in case the wild beast tears free of its captor...

Summer

2010-07-08T14:04:00.000-07:00

At our house summer means tan lines. Major tan lines.

And...

Water. Lots of water.

Bob's House

2010-07-08T08:46:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I headed to Indiana with the kids for Bob's birthday. Ironically I came back with no pictures of Bob. Sorry Bob. I took very few pictures, probably because I was constantly watching my punks. We all had a blast. Matt and Kristy took us swimming and then to Pizza Hut. Made me feel like a safe little kid again. Reminded me of Daddy. It was nice.

On Bob's birthday we all went to church and then ate lunch and pretended to take naps. Ha ha. Then we had a big bbq with Gabe and Laura and family. We heard a few fireworks and lit some fun sparklers. Abby was pretty scared of them, in a delighted sort of way. We sang to Bob and opened presents with Bob. He was the man of the night. What a cutie he is! On Monday Abby cried because she was leaving her playmates. She wanted to play more. But Josh's tan was fading so we needed to head home on Monday. Thanks everyone for such a great time!

Picture Catch Up

2010-07-07T18:44:00.000-07:00

Abby's Preschool Graduation. Here she is with her friend Elizabeth.

This is the preschool love triangle. Johnny loves Abby who loves Bobby who doesn't know that girls exist.

When they sang "You are my sunshine" Abby actually turned to Bobby and sang the whole song to him.

We went camping. It was fun. We didn't take very many pictures. This was the best one.

Joshy's toenail fell off after he dropped the shovel on it. Gross. Adam informed me that it take an average of 9 months for a toenail to grow back.

The Laura Haynie's came to visit. We had a great time. Abby likes to dress for the opposite season. It's a daily battle.

Abby with Kevin and Emelyn. They are so cute!

My cute punks.

Contemplation

2010-07-06T04:55:00.000-07:00

This morning as I was pondering and thinking through parts of my life and I guess in a strange way seeking guidance I had an impression. Strength grows where it needs too. It may not sound profound but to me, this morning, it was.

Ultimate Direction Strider Women's Hydration Pack

2010-06-30T08:13:00.000-07:00

That's fancy for fanny pack. For a few years now I have been running with a $5 walmart run of the mill fanny pack. It would be fine except for some fairly major problems. The biggest problem is that the interior of the pack has been degrading since I bought it, leaving little bits of black plastic all over everything including my water bottle. For the most part a good blowing off seems to get rid of the offending plastic. The other problem is jiggle. It is VERY jiggly. I've become accostomed to it, but still it is obnoxious. The third and final point is fit. It doesn't fit very well at all. Especially with a pregnant belly.
So after YEARS of searching and hemming and hawing I finally decided to buy a new fanny pack. I researched the different types online and decided on this fancy name in heading pack. I ordered my $5 swagbucks gift card and sat and waited. And waited. and waited. and watched as my favorite colors were all sold out. And then finally today even though my Amazon gift card has STILL not been delivered despite all of the confirmations and stuff I broke down and bought one of the last two. Grey and blue. But who cares? I am sooo excited to finally have a pack that will not require blowing and wiping off my water bottle. Where I do not scare off wildlife and other runners alike with my obnoxious jiggling sound. And most of all I am excited for something that is made for women and can potentially navigate my baby belly a little better. Can't wait to get it next week! Just in time for my first attempt at 6 miles since I was pregnant with Joshy...

A new Post

2010-06-22T11:46:00.000-07:00

I realized today that I am reading everyone else's blogs but not posting any of my own. Even though there is a lot to say.

Josh has really started to talk a lot and is even more proficient at climbing and running and all things physical. Except growing. He is only an inch or two bigger than when we left Texas and is still fitting in his 12 month clothes from last summer just fine. He eats well and drinks a ton. "Thirsty" was one of his first words and is his most often used phrase. He has started calling me Mommy which is absolutely fantastic. I spend most of my life chasing Josh and saving his life.

Abby is currently in Safety School of Parma and Tee-Ball. She likes them both. I'm not really sure she is learning a lot at Safety School but she likes it because they get to see animals and movies. She likes Tee Ball even though she is not very good yet. I need to buy her a bat and a tee so she can practice at home. She is SUPER excited for swim lessons to start next week and I am trying to decide if we should buy a swim pass. The pools here are not zero grade and the kiddy pools are too young for Abby. Decisions, decisions. Abby is starting to ask me addition problems and is sort of acting more interested in reading on her own. Mostly she just colors. A lot. It's all over the place. Don't light a match in my house because it is mostly paper...

Adam is at school. If he's not at school he's at church. If he's not at church then he's helping someone move. If he's not helping someone move he's giving a blessing. If he's not giving a blessing then he might be playing with his kids or watching Lost.

I have been focused on keeping Josh alive (this is more than a full time job), driving Abby everywhere and fun places in between, and trying to stay fit. I decided to up my mileage to atleast a 10k. I am up to 5 miles on my long run so far. This next month I'm going for 6 miles. It's been so nice to run outside and be outside and love outside. I feel great and less tired and healthier. This new baby girl is starting to move a lot and complains when I twist. She's going to be a handful, I can just feel it. I'm pretty scared to have a third kid.

Laura and her four kids drove up from Indy. It was so nice to see them and to have company at our house. I love all of them so much and it is nice to see them whenever I can. I tried to spoil them but I think that Grandma Stearns beat me to the punch. That's okay though we all still had a good time. Laura also brought me some essential baby gear and maternity clothes! What a blessing! We really needed these items and I am so relieved to have them and know that they are good quality. We are planning on getting together again soon with the Laura and Kristy Haynie families. I can hardly wait!

Grouchy Randomness

2010-06-16T18:12:00.000-07:00

You know when you have been thinking too much. People hear you talking to yourself and you find yourself mumbling about things that happened too long ago to care? When you are pieved that the world changes, even if they are good changes because it means that you have to 'keep up' too. When everything is hard, even things you love. And you feel heavier. I feel like complaining about everything. and doing nothing. And then crying. A lot. Go ahead and blame it on my hormones. GO AHEAD.

It's been a while

2010-06-07T19:40:00.000-07:00

I've been really tired at night, and in the afternoon and so mostly most of the time. Imagine that right? So it's been quite a while since I last blogged mostly because every waking moment hasn't been very often. I have a ton to blog about but tonight it is just one simple thing.

We are expecting our HEALTHY little girl on October 24, 2010.

Zoo Field Trip

2010-05-22T07:43:00.000-07:00

Niagara Falls

2010-05-22T07:38:00.000-07:00

This is us at the top of the America Falls.

This is them looking over the American side of the Falls. They are looking at Canada.

Still at the top.

Getting ready to ride 'Maid of the Mist'. Josh refused to wear his plastic pancho. or his coat.

This is toward the end of our ride. We were headed back towards Amercia. Our camera obviously had some water on the lens but it is a cute shot anyway. It was a really fun trip for Adam and I. I think that Abby and Josh were a little too young to appreciate it. Josh cried most of the time. They both wanted to go back to the hotel and swim some more. Poor babies. We just took them home.

The Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon Event

2010-05-17T10:14:00.000-07:00

This year since we decided to do the Rite Aid Cleveland 5k. I ofcourse, could hardly sleep I was so excited. I was awake in bed by 5:30 am just waiting for it to be late enough to get out of bed. I finally rolled out at 6:20 and was a little early picking up the babysitter. Adam on the other hand could have slept through the whole thing but he didn't.

We lined up with just a few minutes to spare. They said a bunch of stuff about MMRF (the charity that the race was supporting) that I couldn't really hear. Then we were off! Adam actually set the pace and kept us true. It was a really fun race. The last third of the race was really hard. It was all uphill. Steep uphill. I wanted to stop and walk a little but my sweetheart was so encouraging that I made it without stopping. We beat my goal by 2 minutes. I was quite happy. There are no pictures because we were running, you know.

Abby's race started at 11. Due to poor event set up/Indications that this was in fact the kid's race we were late. Adam dropped us off just in time for Abby and I to run her up to the start line for her 4 year old race.

I love this serious race face. Notice the race apparel (Silver Racing Headband, Pink Dolphin shirt, Stretchy flower power). She was a little confused when they said "Ready, Set, Go!" But she ran hard when she saw everyone else taking off.

She avoided a huge collision of 5 other 4 year olds. Very impressive. At the end she got a medal.

They told each 4 year old that they won. And they all believed it.

Tired, Happy, and ready for lunch.

Daddy and Josh missed it all. They came just in time for post race goodies.

We got a free goody bag and shirt for Josh due to our troubles.

He didn't care. He just wanted to hold on to that Panda Bear.

After the race we headed over to the other venue and listend to Cleveland's Fine Arts High School's Drum line. It hurt Abby's ears but the rest of us really enjoyed it.

We went to DQ afterward and the home to crash. What a fun day!

All Done At Last!

2010-05-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

After passing his last class, Adam got to do this.

It took a little convincing but in the end we were all so glad to get out.

He gets to do a lot of this.

See a lot of this.

And this.

Do some of this.

And have another little person do whatever he does.

It's so great to have daddy around, using words that are common to all English speakers.

Awwww!

2010-05-13T05:21:00.000-07:00

Rainin'

2010-05-11T15:01:00.000-07:00

Lately everything has been hard. It seems hard. Really hard. There are so many other people going through harder things but that doesn't undermine my own situation. It's still been hard. And things aren't going my way or Adam's way or the kid's way and someone should be getting their way. I'm starting to feel like we are doing someting wrong. It shouldn't be this hard for this long. Things should ease up. Get easier or better.

Today Adam waited in line to ask for a break on a ticket he got for registration being out of date. It was during the time period when we were trying to get our cars registered but due to Ohio's insane laws it took us 3 weeks to get them registered. It happened to be the most expensive ticket we've ever heard of for registration. And we got it taken care of before his court date. You would think we had a compelling case right? Guess the city of Seven Hills needed some more money because instead of a break they increased the fine. This was after waiting for 2 hours during finals. And I couldn't go for him.

This is only an example. Only one thing. It would be one thing if I felt right, but things just don't feel right. Something needs to change.

I can't stand the rain on my parade anymore.

My New Flirty Apron!

2010-05-06T12:43:00.000-07:00

I just got my very cherry flirty apron in the mail. It is soooo awesome! I completely love wearing it! YAY! Here is a link to check it out. They are having a 40% off sale (google flirty apron coupon code) and so they are pretty reasonably priced. Anyway I was just so excited I had to share it with everyone... Maybe I'll take a picture later.

Stearns Homestead

2010-05-05T07:12:00.000-07:00

We went to this cool FREE farm for preschool.

They had a lot of animals. You were allowed to touch them and feed them and be otherwise entertained by them. I didn't take as many pictures because I had to help all of the little preschoolers get a touch.

There were goats, sheep, chickens, pigs, cows, horses, mini horses, rabbits, birds, and other stuff. It was really fun. They also have a meseum that I didn't go to. Because there wasn't enough time. But we will back.

To touch. To feed. To gawk.

Preston HOPE Park

2010-05-05T07:06:00.000-07:00

This park was really fun. The kids loved it. Inspite of this picture.

Abby at the "Bank" with some of her little friends.

Abby posing for a picture instead of running with her friends.

Josh in the architecture room. He was fascinated. Totally loved it.

We ran around and had a great time.

Then we had yummy cupcakes.

Got lost.

Drove to Twin-something.

Ate McDonalds.

Submitted to the evil GPS (A whole new post)

Went home.

If Left Unattended

2010-05-01T19:23:00.000-07:00

As chronicled by Abby, daddy was asleep.

Mom was in the bathroom. No pictures.

She led the way.

He followed.

But eventually found his own way.

It included this too. Atleast they were taking turns.

Notice the foot in the corner.

By the time I arrived back on the scene it was too late.

My cake was demolished in a few short minutes.

Inspiration

2010-04-30T13:53:00.000-07:00

Isaiah 40:31 But they that await upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

If I ever need inspiration, something to make me feel like doing something Kristin Armstrong is where I turn. She wrote a post called The Wall today. I've felt like in a personal way I have very much found 'the wall' and am now in a struggle, a battle, with it.
Part of my wall is the sinking dispair of gaining weight again and the inability to do more. It's so minor compared to other giants in my life but its one that's bringing me down. I've worked so hard and everytime I work so hard there's never anytime to enjoy it. And the fact that a marathon, a real marathon, is once again put on hold for atleast 2 years. Sinking. I've really considered just ignoring all the reasons that I shouldn't and just training anyway. Atleast getting back up to a 10k. I'm more than 1/2 way there. 2 more miles at a moderate pace? Okay so I've already given myself persmission to do that one.
Its just hard when life changes, regardless of the reason, and you have to reset your goals, even your finish line changes directions. It can be hard to stay motivated with so much change. Hard to stay consistent and together. I realized today that nearly everyday I have been in public I have ended up in a stained shirt. ~~I put on clean nonstained clothes~~ I leave the house in clean clothes but within moments it seems there is something magically and unforgivingly on my shirt/pants/child...And no one else seems to be falling apart like me.
The good news is that I know that I'm in a period of growth. Soon I will be strong enough to face the challenges and for a short while I will get to enjoy it before I am hit again. Yeah, growth is how I handle my wall.

Blogs I have started

2010-04-30T05:27:00.000-07:00

I have started a lot of blogs and not finished one. I want to share how hard, fun, funny, scary, tiring, and generally good life has been. I want to share how much I am enjoying Ohio, how fantastic the people here are, and how beautiful God has made this place. I want to chronicle the lives of my children, because they are incredible and going by so fast. But at the end of the day, when there is peace and quiet I have no energy left to come up here and write. I know this is a passing phase and that soon I will gather the strength and be more energetic. In the meantime though these are my thoughts.

Poor Sick Abby

2010-04-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

So Abby has been coughing since Monday. I haven't been able to get it under control. I didn't want to take her back to the doctor we had been going to because she didn't seem very knowledgable...So with an asthma attack in full swing I decided to switch doctors. I called a popular doctor's office group and asked if any of their doctors handled asthma. The secretary immediately said Dr Levy. Ahhhh. It was so nice to know that atleast this doctor was interested in my kid's problem.
They got me in this morning only an hour after I called. So I lugged my kids out the door along with the pharmacy I had been using to treat Abby. The doctor was great. I really like her and so did Abby. She said that I did everything right but there was a lot going on that I didn't know about. Like the double ear infection. Or the severe sinusitis. Or the thick mucous allergy. But the doctor still said I had done everything right, including waiting four days to bring her in. Anyway we left knowing that Abby has a tree allergy, which is one of her triggers, and that she has an infection, another trigger. The doctor prescribed asthma medicines through the tree allergy season (end of may) and said that we will see if she has a grass allergy in June. All in all I came away with the original three medicines plus four or six more. I am truly the medicine woman now. Or rather Abby is.
She is currently watching My Little Pony's in her room and trying desperately not to cough or hurt anymore. Considering how sick she is she is doing very well. Hopefully with our new aresenol we can stave off any more episodes like this.

You might be a Haynie if...

2010-04-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

YOU MIGHT BE A HAYNIE IF...

you exercise moderately and sweat enough that people think you just got caught in a rain storm/or just finished a shower.

people say privately or to your face that you ought to stop sticking your butt out. Nope its just made that way.

your nose has a built in eye-glass shelf. Seems like we never would have to push up our glasses with that big bump there to keep them up.

you are given the choice to take an academic test or go to a social event and you have really think about it. The answer usually depends on the food.

it's time to leave but not EVERYONE is ready to go so you go do something else instead of just waiting a few minutes (like playing every scott joplin or in my case chopin song that you have ever learned before you leave the house). Then your nearly irate spouse or child has to reign you into the car. Really this stems from an intense hatred of waiting. I'm thinking that if you could just fit the piano in the car I could wait there...

Easter Day

2010-04-13T06:58:00.000-07:00

We did a little egg hunt in our backyard.

It was really fun.

We also had a nice Ham Easter Dinner. Yumm!

More Pictures.

2010-04-04T18:57:00.000-07:00

Abby eating at an Easter Party.

Hunting for eggs at the Easter Party.

Joshy hunting for eggs.

Waiting in line to hit the pinata.

Easter morning at our house.

Josh thinking this is crazy cool.

What his mouth looked like for the rest of the day. Except chocolaty-er.

Abby with her zhu zhu pet that the Easter bunny gave her.

Picture Catch Up

2010-04-04T18:46:00.000-07:00

Toby and Josh having a nap

Abby saying goodbye to Toby. She cried for 2 days after he went back to his home. We've had a sleepover since then.

We went to a fancy hotel over one of Adam's break. This is the jetted tub.

Joshy resting from jumping on the bed.

Abby and me at the science center in Cleveland. I think Abby took her hands off the static bar and lost some of the static.

Joshy in the ball pit at the Science Center. He had a blast.

Joshy in his bunny ears.

Adam and Abby at the Cleveland Zoo. Josh was too scared to sit with the monkey.

Me and Josh on the Tram that takes you up the big hill at the Cleveland Zoo.

Doctor Update

2010-03-23T13:44:00.000-07:00

So the thing on my face is actually a cystic acne zit thing. Gross hu. He gave me a cream to put on it. Now they have to fight the insurace to get them to cover it at $150/tube. He thinks 3 tubes and six weeks ought to fix it. Grossity gross. This may be the mother of all zits. He also began freezing some warts off my foot. Sorry podiatry guys. I know I should have gone to you but it was so convenient. He was there with his ice freezing gun can and I was like sure. He thinks a time or two more of freezing them off and all 12 (yes that is a real estimate) should be gone. So that is all the good news. I don't have much more to blog about. I haven't felt really exciting lately. Maybe spring will bring something cool to say.

This thing on my face

2010-03-23T06:42:00.000-07:00

Today I am going to the doctor for this thing on my face. It's been there for the last three weeks. Ofcourse today it is smaller than most days but atleast it is still there. It kind of looks like I was burned by a curling iron but that's not really what it is. Because I don't use a curling iron anymore. Probably for that reason. You know the burning one. Also no pictures. If you can't see it in person then you can't see it at all. I'm a little worried that it might be cystic acne, but it's not the right shape. So we will see if I have a funky shaped cystic acne or something else...more to come on the gross thing on my face. And maybe the warts on my heel.

Mike Rowe

2010-03-14T10:12:00.000-07:00

I really like this.

Swollen Face

2010-03-06T07:33:00.000-08:00

My face is really swollen. I don't know why. It started earlier this week with just one side of my face but now both sides of my face are swollen. I have only had my face swell like this twice before in my life. The first time was in college during spring time. It was you know about the same time March-ish and my face began to swell until I looked like a klingon. I'm pretty sure I was really allergic to some springtime blossoming action. It just happened that I started a social dance class that week. When I finally got my face under control the teacher asked me to introduce myself to the class and asked if I needed him to sign my add card. Lots of people were confused when I tried to explain that I had been there for a week already. I'm pretty scared that I am going for a repeat of this experience.

Fear of Pain

2010-02-23T13:59:00.000-08:00

Brushing Abby's hair everyday has taught me a little bit about fear. While brushing her hair doesn't always feel good I know that it doesn't hurt as much as she cries. When I ask her if it actually hurts or if she is scared of it hurting she usually responds that she is scared. I think of all the painful things I am scared of, mostly growing pains. I wonder why in most cases my fear largely out weighs the actual pain. I am very scared of going down rocks on a bike. I'm very scared of falling. It would hurt. But really the fear far exceeds the actual pain I would feel.
I think that the only really justified fear I have is of the dentist. No amount of fear is adequate to the pain a dentist can and usually does inflict. Even a bad dental hygenist could easily get me through a fast Sunday. And for some reason all the drugs in the world can't dull the pain that a dentist can inflict. What's worse is that even though every hygenist and dentist I have had in the last 8 years has said that I have incredible tooth hygiene it doesn't make up for the super crappy teeth genes that I inherited. That means unavoidable cavities. Inevitable dentist inflicted pain. Sends shivers through me everytime. The next time we go camping Adam is going to tell me dentist stories instead of ghost stories.

Yummy recipes I made last week...

2010-02-22T10:54:00.000-08:00

I made a few really yummy recipes last week. I just wanted to share. I made this Italian Supreme Calzone and I used her pizza crust. It was sooooooooo yummy. Since Adam didn't get to eat it with us for dinner I am going to make it again this week. That good. I made this super yummy Chicken Cordon Bleu. I used chicken stock instead of wine fyi.

I made these and other yummy dinners. My husband, bless his heart, still managed to spit one out on his dinner plate in the middle of dinner because he thought he had a bone in the shredded boneless, skinless chicken breast...Atleast I didn't find it in the microwave later that night...And to his credit he did finish eating it. Not the 'boney' part though. No bone or hard part was found in the inspected partly masticated food that he had to spit out. Yes I said husband and not son. *I did not post the recipe that he spit out*.

I know, I know you are thinking I am so patient to continue cooking for my family after this and other occurences. I know he is so lucky to have a wife that cooks for him and tries hard to save him money and make a tasty atleast edible dinner. All this while answering the phone, perfoming wonderous acts of motherhood like catching a falling toddler, turning the TV/computer to a less than blaring volume, responding to the shrieks of "MOOOOOOMMMMM Joshy STINKS get him AWAY FROM ME!!!" or "MOOOOOOOMMMMM I PEEEEED IN MY ROOM! COME CLEAN IT UP!" or "WAAAA WAAA WAAA" (interpeted "Mooommmm Abby took all my toys away and put them where I can't reach them just to watch me cry!"). Yes, yes I know there is so much more to what we mommy's do. No wonder I consistently forget an ingredient. Sometimes, sometimes I get hard on myself for "not being able to follow a recipe". But then I remember that I am not just following a recipe. I am following a recipe, a toddler, a preschooler, and a husband plus whatever the phone is ringing about. All this while trying to keep the house from exploding.
And oh yeah, there is a timeline, or rather a deadline. At my house if dinner is served later than 6:30 something inexplicably bad happens. Everything, EVERYTHING takes atleast an hour and a half LONGER than it should. The kids can't go to sleep but they're tired, which means they get destructive. It is a truly horrid way to spend my evening and I don't think they are too fond of it either. I guess what I am trying to say is I am a good cook. And I know really yummy recipes. But they aren't always perfect.

SOCKS

2010-02-18T09:00:00.000-08:00

So this last week I ran out of my 'running' socks. They are really my favorite socks. I have champion socks from Target. Not any more expensive than regular socks but what a difference! I changed socks because of an article in runner's world. They said that the least expensive change that made the biggest impact for a runner, the one splurge that was worth it was socks. So I tried it. And I liked it. Well anyway I ran out of my running socks and so I slapped on my old cotton Hanes socks. Ouchie! My feet blistered after just a few miles. Full on blistered. It was one of the most painful runs I have had in a long time and my feet let me know about it. Athletic socks are great.

Valentine's Day

2010-02-15T05:59:00.000-08:00

Flower's Adam got me

Joshy helps make heart-shaped rice krispy treats

Chocolate covered rice krispy treats....mmmmmm

Heart shaped completely home-made ravioli

Needless to say we had a delicious and beautiful day.

Sledding

2010-02-15T05:48:00.000-08:00

These are pictures from our first sledding trip. It lasted maybe 30 minutes but it was a blast. Abby had fun. Josh cried the entire time and especially when any downhill or cross country riding occured. The second time we went this hill was all ice and extremely fast/fun. Abby cried when she went down. Josh cried if we put him close to the sled. But Adam and I had a blast.

Winter Weather Advisory

2010-02-12T11:56:00.000-08:00

I live in the land of perpetual winter weather advisory/warning. Pictures to follow.

Oh Yeah the Milk Thing

2010-02-04T07:47:00.000-08:00

So yesterday was Josh's 15 mo check up. I decided to take him to a different doctor in the practice that I have been going to. Anyway this doctor suggested that I should start Josh on dairy products! Slowly, but surely cheese is going to come back into my diet!!! YAY!!! Josh has gotten a little bit taller. Not much but some. Unfortunately even with all of his outrageous pigging out he has not gained an ounce. Literally. The good news is that he did not lose anything either. I would have included a cute picture of Joshy but the one immunization (dTaPp) gave him a huge welt on his arm and is making him a bit cranky.

Abby is funny

2010-02-04T07:06:00.000-08:00

This morning Abby was telling me about her crazy dream. It was a wild one, and they usually are. Then at the end she said:
"And then I was un-sleeping"
"You mean awake right?"
"No unsleeping"
"You're awake right now right?"
"No I'm unsleeping"

Training

2010-02-04T07:02:00.000-08:00

So I've been reading some books about exercise lately. Can you tell? One thing that I just learned that you all probably know already is how to tell if you are training too hard and avoiding training medium hard.

The book that I read suggested that if you can tell that you are training too hard if you have sleep interruptions (fatigue and/or insomnia), injury or a high RHR. They suggested taking your RHR every morning and if it more than 5 points above normal that your body has too much stress. I had no idea.

Training medium hard is where your 'easy' workouts are too hard and your hard workouts are too easy. I think that I fall into this trap a lot. I never feel like taking an easy day which makes it hard to have a really hard day. Thus I train mostly in this medium hard category.

On a side note Josh just fell into the shower. Gotta go.

Groundhog's Day

2010-02-02T11:28:00.000-08:00

Did somebody forget to threaten Punxsutawney Phil? I do not want six more weeks of winter! You can see his prediction here.

Dualathon or Triathlon? Both?

2010-02-02T11:09:00.000-08:00

So I've been reading and dabbling here and there about triathlon's and dualathon's. There is this dualathon in June and this triathlon in August. The races and gear are expensive which is currently the most prohibitive thing about them. I still want to try and do them. I will probably have to pick one or the other to do though. A dualathon would be atleast $100's cheaper. But I really want to do the triathlon. Decisions, decisions... Next year though I know what I want for my birthday and Christmas...