Snot

Yes - this picture is posted twice. It's to honor my two darling girls who have enough snot coming out of their heads for the entire population of Madagascar. Katie, my older daughter, is 2.5 and can take some OTC meds that help a bit. But they make her groggy and lethargic. My little one, Courtney, is almost 5 months old. Which means NO meds of any kind. So the lovely blue sucker bulb,



which is a tried and true device of torture, will have to suffice.

My poor girls. And their poor mommy and daddy. Let's hope we ALL feel better soon!

I want to.....

..... be doing more of this:

Workin' it out

I've had a touch of the baby blues lately. I've come to realize that I am not going to be at my job, which I really like(d), for YEARS and that I've become a full time mom. I love being a mom, but I was a working mom for a long time. Now I'm a mom. And a mom. Oh - and a mom. That's it. That's how it felt/feels right now. So, I decided to use my time wisely and get back to the gym!

When I was home with Katie before I went back to work, I really enjoyed going to the gym. They have a great daycare/babysitting room that is included in our membership. The people that watch the kids are friendly and follow a pretty regular schedule so the same people are usually there around the same time. They'll give the babies bottles and keep the older kids occupied with activities, crafts and a cool playground. And if things get too crazy and staff member will come and find you to help alleviate any temper tantrums or the like. But, they don't come and get you unless they REALLY need you. The staff are very good at trying just about everything to settle a kiddo before they hunt you down. They know that this may be your only hour alone. They had to get me one time for Katie and it was because she had pinched her finger in a door and wouldn't calm down.

So, I signed Courtney up last week and headed to the gym today! I timed it out so she had just eaten and needed a nap. I packed her in the car where she promptly fell asleep. She stayed asleep the whole hour-and-fifteen-minutes I was there. Pretty nice.

I'm also happy about working toward my goal of a 5K race. I was doing a program called Couch to 5K before I was pregnant with Courtney. I had made it to week 5 when I saw the double pink line. I tried to keep up the program, but pregnancy kicks my butt physically and I opted for naps on the couch rather than the treadmill. Well. I'M BACK!! I'm using our old, 1st generation iPod and have downloaded all the podcasts that help me along. The program is a series of walking/running intervals that slowly condition your body. In about 9 weeks you'll have enough stamina to run a 5K in about 30 minutes. Not bad! So, today I completed the first day of week 1. I about died, but feel good and will do it again on Wednesday. I'm really hoping to keep going and run in a real, honest to goodness 5K sometime in the late summer or early fall. I want to pin a number on me and everything.

If your even remotely interested in running, you should try this program. I AM NOT a runner. and *I* can do this program. The workouts are short - between 25-45 minutes each - and the program is flexible. They recommend doing each workout 3 times a week with at least 1 day of rest in between. As the workouts get more challenging, I do them more than three times. The week 4 workout took me 6 times before I felt like I could go to week 5. No stress. Nobody's yelling at me because I need one more shot before I feel comfortable. It's on my iPod so nobody snickers "Ha ha! Look at her. She's doing the SAME workout 7 times." I like it!

So wish me luck. I'll try to post my progress as I move along and when I do my 5K I'll definitely post pictures and everything! Happy running!

Ok - an update

I really only have time for a quickie update. The sound of me typing ALWAYS wakes up Courtney, our now almost 8 week old daughter. Yep - she's wriggling already. Oh well.

I had forgotten how busy a newborn really keeps you! Yes, she eats, sleeps and poops. But then there are the times when she'll ONLY sleep on you, or the times when she has gas and is just super uncomfortable, or the times she just cries - for her own baby reasons. I'm amazed at how LITTLE gets done during a day. I have all the good intentions in the world - get the laundry folded, the dishes in the dishwasher, her baby book started. And then something comes up. Today? She slept on my chest for 2 hours. Who am I to move a soundly, happily, warmly sleeping baby girl? Ok - so I kind of enjoyed it. =) And the laundry will get done. I promise.

Then add to the mix an almost two-and-a-half year old. Katie is in go-go-toddler mode constantly. She loves to color, play stickers, play kitchen, play outside, play inside, play, play, play. If we could harness just a pinky-finger-full of her energy, we'd be set for DAYS! She's adjusting to Courtney pretty well here at home. School is a different story. She's still going to full-time daycare for convenience. She likes it there, her teachers really like her, and it gives me a a chance to deal with Courtney's baby schedule (or lack thereof) during the day. But, Katie's having difficulty with how much attention she's receiving at school. She's a favorite among most of the teachers and she's moving into a room that 'there are no favorites'. Well, that doesn't sit well with Miss K. So, she whines and cries a lot. I think I'll pull her out in another week or two so she'll be home full-time. Then I can give both girls divided attention. Yeah - great.

I figure we all have siblings. All parents with 2 or more children have gone through this. We can make it too. At least Katie's not causing physical harm to Courtney or Courtney's doesn't have colic or I didn't have triplets. We can do it!

So, there's an update. Nice, huh? Well, I'm still here and I took 10 minutes to update you. So, take what you can get! =)

Please - come back!

I've been gone for a while. I'm doing some updating so please, come back. It won't always be exciting, I'm sure, but it will be updated!

You ready? I'm ready. You ready?

I'm sitting here in labor. Yes - real labor. Contractions are coming about every 8-10 minutes. The on-call nurse told us to wait an hour OR until the contractions are 5-7 minutes apart and then call her back. She'll send us in at that point. Looks like this kid is on his/her way!!

Feb 21 or Feb 22. Not sure. We shall see soon!

I'll share more updates when I can. It may be a while.

I do NOT want to do this again!

My 2 year old daughter came home with a stomach bug. She spent all day Saturday throwing up and then the 'fun' diapers began. 24 hours. Not a big deal. She's back to her silly self.

Last night I wasn't feeling so hot. I went to bed early. An hour later I was making the first of about 7 mad dashes for the toilet. Yes - I had caught my daughter's stomach bug. While I'm SURE I was NOT attractive while vomiting, I couldn't help but think how utterly comical it must look. I am now 37 weeks pregnant - about as big as you can get. The way our bathroom is set up, the toilet has it's own little room with a door. Read LITTLE ROOM. Put giganto prego lady on her knees with her face in the bowl and then ask that pregnant lady to get up when she's done. I'm surprised there aren't literal dents in the wall. I probably looked drunk. No. I wish.

Oh - and for those who have never been pregnant before, let me tell you a little secret. You don't have great control over your 'other end' functions this late in pregnancy. So, heave your guts out so hard that you think your eyeballs are about to pop out and see if you can 'hold it in'. Good luck. I'll be here when you get over the shame and tell me about it. I'm just saying.....