Long Run of the Week...

I just completed a six mile run this morning. I am extremely proud of myself. Not only is it the farthest distance I've run yet, but I'm coming off my injury and still getting into the swing of things. I feel great!!

My Sweet Boy

Dear Jameson -

You are the sweetest little boy in the whole world and I love you to pieces. However, you are starting to make me a wee bit nervous. Now that you can crawl, you are constantly on the move. Even when you can't move, you flail your legs and arms about and have this energy that is unmatched by any other any baby on the planet. You constantly scream out in joy and love to hear your voice. I love to hear your voice too, but again, YOU ARE MAKING ME NERVOUS. I don't know anything about little boys, but from what I have seen, most of them are certifiably crazy. They bounce off walls, have boundless energy and are louder than a rocket ship taking off. I hate to just lump you into the catergory of "all boys" but you are making it hard on me, my son. You are my first baby that I am genuinely scared of having walking. Lucky for me, you don't seem to be on pace to do it quite as early as your big sisters (ten months, give or take a few weeks), but you don't seem to let much stop you now.

So my prayer is this: please slow down, please turn the volume down just a smidge and please don't grow any more until I am ready to conquer all that is BOY.

Love,

Mommy

Fruit Snack Bandit!

Serena is my fruit snack monster! When Calli was little, she was my only for awhile and I was able to hold off on giving her these, but Serena wants whatever her big sister has most of the time and honestly, there are worse things out there than fruit snacks! But Serena takes it to a whole new level. She is a really great eater for the most part. She turns down chocolate in favor of fruit. She doesn't even LIKE sweets! I am not sure this little girl is really mine. After all, is it even genetically possible for two chocolate lovers to create a chocolate hater? And furthermore, who in the world doesn't like sweets of any kind? She is a strange one.



Fruit snacks are her one vice. She can't get enough of them - literally! She will go into the pantry when it's snack time and grab a bag of fruit snacks. I'll open them for her and she'll gobble them down, go back and get another one for me to open. Sometimes I give in and let her have two. Really, what is the harm? But she is not done there! She will go back a third time for another pack and that is where I draw the line. Unfortunately, her big sister did not get that memo and opens the snack for her when my back is turned.



One other (strange) thing Serena loves is ice! When she hears someone getting ice out of the fridge she will stop what she's doing and haul her little bottom into the kitchen to watch. She waits like a tiger stalking her prey for one piece of ice to drop on the floor so she can snatch it up. Usually I throw her a bone and "accidently" drop one on the floor so she can get it (I think she feels more accomplished this way than if I just hand it to her - that's too easy!).


What am I going to do with this little one??

California Girl!

It must be Mommy's influence. My four-and-a-half year old is turning into a regular Valley Girl. I hear the word "like" slipping out of her mouth more and more these days. The things she says sometimes just send me into fits of laughter. The other day she was wearing a new dress I had just bought at Gymboree. She is always so excited when she gets new clothes and ran upstairs to show Daddy after putting it on. She came back a few minutes later and I asked her what Daddy thought of her new dress. She reported "Daddy loved my new dress. He freaked out. He was like woah, cool dress!" You also had to be there to see the hand motion she made when she was imitating her daddy. Hello, Mini Me!!!

Then just a few minutes she was telling me something and I heard the word "like" slip in there. It could be worse. She could be saying the word "y'all" (nails on a chalkboard to me, people!!). She could be saying "fixin" or "howdy" or "hola" or any number of words that are popular here. I will take my "like" and watch her turn into Mommy a little more each day. I am so proud!! From now on, I shall call you "Calli from the Valley".

The Weekend Recap in Photos

Calli's hair was getting quite long (nearly to her bottom!) and hard to brush so I knew it was time for a trim. Doesn't she look adorable? I am just happy her bangs are finally growing out. BANGS ARE THE DEVIL! (okay, I'm clearly not a bang fan! It may have something to do with the mullet my mother used to make me have as a child. I think I am scarred for life. Ever since I let my voice be heard when I was seven that I wanted to grow out my bangs, I have never looked back).

Serena is becoming quite the photo subject. When she sees the camera come out she wants to have her picture taken. She immediately starts shouting out "cheese!" It's adorable. And look how sweet these girls are! A rare moment I must say. But this morning I did catch them walking around the house holding hands and reading books together on the couch. "Bring me another book, Serena!" Calli would say and her little sister would hop off the couch and come running back with another book for Calli to "read" to her. Melts my heart every time!
This is Serena's sassy look. Have you ever gotten one from her? I have been on the receiving end too many times to count!
We went to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese on Saturday afternoon. The kids had a great time and got Hello Kitty gift bags to bring home. Richard brought the girls outside to play when we came home and the neighbors across the street from us, whom we've never met, were having a birthday party as well. So my lovely children decided to crash the party, participating in the pinata smashing and receiving Minnie Mouse gift bags. Way to go girls, that's what Mommy taught you! Here they are with their Minnie ears on.

And of course the photo of the three of them that I have to take every week or so. I can't seem to ever get them all looking AND smiling. If only Jameson's eyes were open!! But it is still pretty cute. I'm on the hunt for cute Valentine's Day outfits for them so we can go get professional photos taken. Now that Serena likes the camera more, I'm hoping she'll be more cooperative; cross your fingers!! Look at Jameson and Serena, they could be twins!!

Boys vs. Girls

So my kids are still very young and my only boy is still a baby so I haven't noticed too many differences between the two sexes yet. I find it funny how some things just seem to be genetically ingrained into boys and girls to make them different. And maybe as parents we unknowingly perpetuate the gender stereotypes: I know that I've never actually bought monster trucks and Transformers for my girls and I'm not buying dolls for Jameson to play with!


I like to consider myself an expert on girls. First of all, I am one. Yes, shocking!! Second of all, I have two younger sisters. I would never claim to have helped raise them in any way, shape or form. My parents created them, my mother gave birth to them, they were the ones up in the middle of the night with them, paying for everything, diapering, worrying about their well being as parents do. BUT being the oldest, I did do my fair share of babysitting. My middle sister and I are three years apart in age and we spent a lot of summers home alone together when we were out of school. Mostly she just stayed in her room and came out to eat lunch once in awhile (we weren't quite the best friends we are today!!). But I do have some fun memories of us sitting on the couch watching Saved By The Bell together and calling who got to "be" Kelly Kapowski. Fun times! Since we were fairly close in age though we've always had more of a peer relationship. Given the large seven and a half year gap between my youngest sister and I, I can recall more memories of me helping out with her. Babysitting, walking her to school for a Halloween carnival (a fun memory!) and picking her up from the babysitter's down the street, tripping over the curb and dropping her on her head (whoops! That probably explains a lot.......). I think my most fun "sister" memory happened when I was in my early teens. She had the Super Nintendo in her room and I would go in there and ask if I could play it. I look back and know that she just must have loved having her big sister come in and want to spend time with HER. I think she also loved the fact that I always put on her Britney Spears CDs and told her not to tell anyone that I actually liked them. Hehehehe, guess that secret is out now!



But I digress. What was my point exactly? Oh yeah. Two younger sisters. Surrounded by everything girly. Check. Fast forward a few years and I gave birth to my first child, a girl! I immediately had visions of a mini-me and couldn't wait for her to do everything that I did and more. She does all the things I always dreamed my daughter would do: she wears dresses and loves the color pink, but she plays soccer and can run circles around the boys. She is girly but sporty at the same time so I get the best of both worlds with her. Then it was time to have another baby and lo and behold, another little girl! I was thrilled to have a second daughter not just for myself, but I was estatic to give Calli a sister. I think every girl should have a sister, it really should be a law or something! It's a built in girlfriend you have for life and WE GAVE them that gift in each other. Not to mention it was another little person I would be best friends with when she is an adult (based on the relationship my own mother and I have I would be pleased if my girls loved me half as much).


And then I get pregnant again. By this time I was convinced we were destined to have all girls. In fact, I started referring to the baby in my belly as a "she" and Calli started talking about her "other little sister". That's how sure I was that it was going to be another girl. I looked at girls' names, I thought about pink, I just knew it was a girl! So I was quite taken by surprise when, at 15 weeks pregnant and having my ultrasound, the technician pauses the screen on something that looks distinctly...boy-like. "Um, is that what I think it is?" I asked her. "It's a boy!" I was told. Wow. A boy. Are you sure? I could have sworn it was going to be another girl. I know nothing about boys!! And there I was, with a person carrying a Y chromosome in my belly. Calli was extremely disappointed at first. I will never forget the moment I told her: we were standing in the kitchen after getting home from the appointment. She was hugging my belly and I told her that she was going to have a little brother, not another little sister. Still clutching my belly with her hands she looked up at me and said "nooooo........" It was pretty funny and she didn't take long at all to get used to the idea of a little boy, but I will never forget that initial reaction. (and don't worry, she loves her baby brother like crazy now!).



Of course I was excited, just as I would have been if it was another sweet girl. I wondered what in the world I would do with a boy. Everything I had known my whole life was GIRL. Everything I had for my kids was pink and now I was going to have to introduce the color blue. Of course I had the feelings of "will I love a boy as much as I love my girls?" It's a silly question, but you always think it.



When Jameson was born, he was just a baby. Nothing was different from the girls except what was in the diaper. We had one different decision to make before he got out of the hospital, but for the first six months or so everything was virtually the same. Even now that he is nearly eight months, it's the same. If I give him a doll, he will eat it. If there is a Barbie on the ground, he goes for it. He doesn't care if I put a bow on his head and snap a picture: he smiles like crazy for the camera.



The small differences I notice are in size and appetite. Jameson is massive. He is bigger than most boys his age even and overall he is just a thick, solid BOY. And he eats like a boy already. I never had the girls on Stage Three Gerber purees because I always had them on table foods before that. But Jameson needs that bigger portion of food. And I'm having to feed him three meals a day of solids and had to start about a month ago. I had to cut him back on his formula because he could honestly eat 40 ounces a day like nothing. Neither of the girls ever ate more than six ounces in a bottle, but Jameson will eat 7-8 ounces (four times a day). I can also already tell he is going to be an active little boy. He never sits still! He crawls everywhere and even when you pick him up, he has his legs and arms pumping a mile a minute. He looks longingly at the girls when they are playing as if to say "I can't wait until I can join you!" I will be thrilled when he can walk and keep up with them.


So I am very interested to see the differences between boys and girls as my kids get older. It will be fun to just see the differences in each of them as people as well. Despite the fact that Calli and Serena are both girls, they could not have more different personalities. Calli is my outgoing, friendly and happy little girl. Serena on the other hand is more reserved, shy, sensitive and serious. She is adorable as heck, but she doesn't hand out smiles like candy. I see more of Calli's personality in Jameson and that scares me. Calli is already a bit of a handful so her personality on a boy, who is prewired to be crazy, is a little frightning. Nonetheless, I can't wait to watch each of them grow.

So here are some perfect photos of my boy being a boy and my girls being girls!

Jameson with his mohawk!

Calli and Serena wearing their dress up wings

Week 5

My week was bittersweet. On one hand I finally figured out what was ailing me, but on the other hand I missed out on a lot of running.

I went to the gym on Monday to do a 3.5 mile run. I got 1.25 miles into it and had to stop because the pain in my back was so excruciating. This had never happened before; I had always been able to run through it. I was hobbling around after I got off the treamill and just in a lot of pain. I left the gym feeling so discouraged and frustrated and not understanding why this was happening. I called the doctor when I got home to make an appointment because I thought at this point, what else could I do really? I was seen the next morning and diagnosed with an SI Joint injury. I was given anti inflammatories and told that Airrosti treatment was another alternative if these didn't work (that is a program that rehabs althletes in just three days). I started taking the Aleve twice a day right away and thought I was feeling better. My real test was going to come when I ran though as that's when the pain always flared up. I was told I could run in 3-4 days so I decided to err on the side of caution and wait four days. This also put me on pace to do a run on Saturday morning, which was easier than trying to get to the gym the day before.

Saturday morning came and I was so excited to get back out there. I put on my new Garmin watch for the first time and began my run around the neighborhood. Mother Nature was not on my side this weekend as the winds were pretty strong that morning. I am still waiting for that perfect running weather here before the heat sets in (and I am really not looking forward to that!!). I made it about a mile before I started to feel very tired and around 1.6 miles I had to walk. I walked about a tenth of a mile and then ran until 2.5 miles and walked the last 1/2 mile (I wanted to get up to 3 miles). I was a little bit discouraged to tell the truth because I wanted to be able to get back out there and have everything just fall back into place. Shouldn't it be like riding a bicycle? I felt a small amount of pain when I was running but it was seriously a thousand times better than it had been before. That in itself was uplifting to know that I had been correctly diagnosed and the medicine and new shoes were working.

I decided to go out again on Sunday morning. This time the winds were even stronger. I ran the first mile with the wind at my back. When I reached the end of the mile I felt great and thought this was no problem and I could definitely go farther today. Then I turned around right into 30mph wind gusts and was out of breath in about a minute. I felt so discouraged again. I managed to run two miles, veering off into side roads so the wind wasn't pushing me directly back, but rather from the side. I walked about .3 miles and then ran up to 3 miles. I felt better about that run but it has definitely taught me that I need to get outside and run more to get used to the elements. After all, I am not running a half marathon on the treadmill! I thought that if I could do five miles on the treadmill getting outside would be no problem. It's a little difficult to run through a neighborhood and I would prefer to find some kind of running trail, but I am not willing to drive anywhere to run. I'd rather just step out my door and get on with it.

So it's back to full time training this week at the gym and I'm curious to see how far I can run. My training schedule calls for four miles today, but I may have to modify this week a bit to make up for all the time I've missed. I'm also getting a little nervous about my four mile run in two weeks. I hope I am able to do it. Even more than that, I hope that it's not windy on any of my race days! I am not sure what I'll do! My dreams of doing some kind of race in San Francisco someday may just have been blown out the window.

Nonetheless it has been an encouraging week running wise since I was finally able to get back out there. I also bought a workout DVD that I'm hoping to use a few times a week to tone up and do some strength training (can I brag for a second that I am in size 2 jeans now??). Anyway, I hope this week is looking up. I could use some of that in my life now :)

Great Wolf, Here We Come!!

It's booked!

Our family vacation for 2010 will take place at the same venue as last year's vacation and almost at the same time as last year's as well. WE CAN'T WAIT! This has to be one of the most fun places on earth: THE GREAT WOLF HOTEL. If you have never been, you should go ASAP. We will enjoy four nights and five days at this indoor water park and fabulous hotel. We are planning to drive up to Dallas on the morning of Saturday, April 10th and stay at a different hotel close to downtown. Sunday morning is my race (yay!) and then later that day we'll check into the Great Wolf and spend four nights there, driving home on the 15th.

Going during April is absolutely ideal. Last year we practically had the place to ourselves since it was off season and the weather was very wet and rainy (here's hoping for more wet weather up there this April!). They keep the water park heated to 84 degrees all the time so you're never cold no matter what (the water is also warm). I am looking forward to this year even more than last year because I AM NOT EIGHT MONTHS PREGNANT!! I might even go down a water slide or two. The girls are also older and Serena is past her stage of hating the water so she will enjoy this year a lot as well. Last time Calli had a blast, but Serena cried whenever the water touched her. This year I am predicting Serena will have just as much fun as Calli. And Jameson will be ten months old and hopefully close to walking. He seems to enjoy the water so I don't foresee having the issues we had with Serena. Overall, I am so excited for this much needed family vacation and we can't wait to get there!

Here are some of my favorite photos from last year

I will never forget the amazement I felt when we were approaching the hotel for the first time. It was just so much bigger than I thought it was going to be and it looked awesome from the outside!

Calli loved going down this water slide over and over
Every night around 7-8pm we put on our pjs and headed down the lobby for story time and a performance (there's nothing to be afraid of in the forest....nothing to be afraid of)

Pictures with Wolfie!

The hotel rooms were SUPER COOL

And of course our family photo in front of the huge fireplace in the lobby. We'll be sure and get another one this year, with the baby in my belly sitting in my LAP this time.

Piling It On!

As if I didn't have enough going on, I've decided to return to coaching Calli at soccer this season. I kept going back and forth, trying to decide if I really wanted to do it. I am still not sure that coaching is really my thing, but I have developed a friendship with my assistant coach from last year and she will be co-coaching with me again this year so I feel more confident having someone to help me out. I already have all the balls and cones, not to mention I've developed relationships with my players (some are returning, some aren't) and I think it will be in their best interests as well to have the same coach for another season. I also received an email from a parent of a player who was on my tournament team in December (he had played with a different team during the season) and she asked if he could be placed on my team. Needless to say, that was a nice email to receive so I think that may have pushed me over the edge to say yes.

Spring Soccer Season 2010 will begin in February and we can't wait!

Hmmm, I wonder if there will ever be a time when I am coaching all three of them in soccer at once???

We were watching a hockey game and Calli decided she wanted to play along so she picked up her broom and started wacking a ball around. Think we have a future ice hockey star?
I want that camera!!

Is there ANYTHING more precious than a sleeping baby? He looked so sweet when I went to get him up from his nap that I couldn't resist running downstairs to get the camera so I could snap a quick picture. Jameson has been sleeping so much better at night! He goes down at 7:30pm and has been sleeping until at least 6am. It is great!

Running Shoes

We were in the car yesterday going to get me some new running shoes and a commercial came on the radio talking about a half marathon and marathon race. I was semi paying attention to it, but I remember thinking "I wonder if Calli is paying attention and knows anything..." I don't know why I would think this and I don't even know that I have mentioned much to her about my race, but sure enough a few seconds after the commercial ended I hear, "Mommy, that's what you are doing, a marathon!" I smiled and told her "yes, Mommy is running a HALF marathon" and isn't she smart! I think the lesson here is to watch what you say because you never know when your kids are listening!!

So I went to a great little store on the opposite side of town (near where we used to live and if we lost our marbles and decided to stay here I much prefer that side actually) that sells running shoes and other running essentials. The salesman who helped me was a runner himself; a grandfather of four who competes in marathons and half marathons on a regular basis and is waiting to see if he is going to make the lottery for the New York marathon. Wow, talk about inspirational! He evaluated my feet and the way I walk (I overpronate just a little) and recommended some shoes. I had brought in the ones I had been wearing and he told me right away there's no doubt that they were the reason for my injury. While the Aasics I own are decent gym shoes, for serious running they seriously suck. I tried on two pairs of shoes with much more cushion and am excited to give them a go on Saturday. They are NIKES of all brands; I have always thought of myself as a Nike girl above all others so maybe that is a positive sign :). I left the store with a great new pair of shoes that didn't even break the bank and some packets of gel (these are like little bursts of energy in the forms of flavored gels that you take a few times during the course of a long run).

And can I say how well behaved my children were? Before we went into the store I told them that I needed them to be good while I tried on shoes (Jameson of course told me "yes Mommy, I will do whatever you say!"). For the first few minutes they hung out quietly by my side until a very nice sales associate pointed out a small bucket of toys hidden in the corner. Then the girls made their way over to them and quietly played and even brought their brother some toys to chew on - I mean play with. I didn't have to utter a single "shhhh" or "no fighting" or "be good!!" the entire time. When it was time to leave they picked up all the toys and we left. I think maybe I should use this BE GOOD tactic more often :)

Getting Close!

(Clearly I need to repaint the helmet!)

We had another helmet appointment today and we have improved by another 1.5mm! We are down from 14mm assymetry to just 5.5mm! This means that if we brought Jameson into Hanger today they would not helmet him (the lowest they helmet is a 6mm). I am super happy with how far he has come and you can really see a huge difference in his head.

These are scans of his head from Hanger. The first scan was taken during our first appointment there when Jameson was fitted for the helmet (at 14mm assymetry). The second scan was taken two weeks ago at our halfway point in the treatment (he had reached 7mm assymetry). You can see how his head is filling out on the back left side and becoming less flat. You can also see how much fuller his head is from the profile view. It even looks like his ear had shifted, but we think that is a trick of the photo (that's what the orthotist thought at least, especially because we wouldn't see a change like that this early). He still has a slight bulge in his forehead and the orthotist has been focusing on molding the helmet to treat that. She is very happy with the progress he has made and it has only been two months! We are looking at about another two months in the helmet, which means he won't even have to spend his first birthday in it.

(If you click on these scans you can see them bigger)

Kids, Kids, Kids

The girls were having a tea party together. Calli was getting mad because Serena kept knocking over their table!

They both love to put on shoes! Calli had on mine and Serena came stomping out of the shoe closet wearing Calli's witch shoes from Halloween.
This is Jameson's super model pose

Sweet Serena

It's Tinker Bell!

Kisses for Brother!

The reason I wake up in the morning:

The Mess

I love my kids, I love my life, I love my husband. I love that there is a roof over my head, food on my table, clothes on our bodies. I am thankful, grateful, blessed, etc etc. Now let's move past that because I KNOW I have it better than a lot of others, but......

I AM TIRED OF MY HOUSE! This is the mess you see when you walk in the door. It is out of control. And there is no containing it. I know we have a ton of toys, sure we brought it on ourselves. But really I don't think we have any more toys than the average five person family! I even go through and throw out a lot of toys on a regular basis. But still the toy box grows and the mess spreads. It leaks from the play area into the living room, the kitchen and the stairs. It makes a trail to my master bedroom and even the bathrooms. Where does it end?? I want a house where we can put the toys upstairs in a game room. I wouldn't even mind it downstairs if I had a door to close the mess on. The kids bedrooms are small, even smaller since Calli and Serena share a room. They have toys up there, but not nearly enough room to put the ones from downstairs.

I am sick of tripping over things. I am sick of walking into a mess when I step in the door. I am sick of not having a place to send the kids to get out of my hair. I AM SICK OF IT.

Okay, I feel a little better :).

Birthdays and Allergies!

Sorry I've been away so long. It hasn't been the best few weeks for me but I'm moving forward and looking up!

I had a wonderful morning and early afternoon on my 25th birthday. Thank you to everyone who sent cards and presents, I loved them all! It was a perfect day for a January birthday: rainy and fifty degrees (and let me tell you: after the below freezing temps we had been getting the last week, fifty degrees felt warm; 50 DEGREES WAS HOT! It was fantastic). I dropped Calli off at preschool and went to the mall to meet a friend. We let the little ones play in the play area and we also shopped a bit. I got some more books at Waldenbooks and some shirts at American Eagle as well as some clothes for the kids at Gymboree. We had really bad Chinese food at the food court for lunch before I left to get Calli from school. A stop at the mailbox brought a birthday present from my best friend. We hung out at home until Richard was off work and I started to not feel so great. I was really tired and took a short cat nap on the couch, but still wasn't feeling well when I woke up. I felt a little nauseous and had the chills and absolutely no appetite. So going out to dinner was out of the question and I barely forced down a few bites of my Baskin Robbins birthday pie. I was feeling better the next day, but I was so annoyed that I was sick on my birthday! How unfair is that?! Richard got me the best birthday present; a Garmin Forerunner 305. It is a watch that has a GPS in it and tracks my running distance, calories burned, heartrate, pace and has LOTS of other cool features that I haven't even begun to explore yet. I am so excited to use it and will hopefully get that chance this weekend.

I had taken a week off of running to let my injury heal and decided to get back out there yesterday. I went to the gym at 8am and hopped on the treadmill ready to run. I was only able to go 1.25 miles before the pain was unbearable and I couldn't run through it anymore. I left the gym so frustrated, upset and overwhelmed. I am training for a HALF MARATHON in April and I can barely run a mile? How is it that the one thing I want to do for myself in the last five years is being denied to me? I came home and called the doctor to make an appointment for today. The Nurse Practitioner diagnosed the problem as my SI Joint being inflammed. So she put me on anti inflamatories (Aleve) and I can try running again in 3-4 days if I feel better. If it's not working by then I can also try this rehab program they have in the office that gets athletes back out there in just three days. So either way, I feel better knowing that this problem will be solved and I just have to hold on a little longer. I am itching to run again. I hate just sitting around and not being active.

So aside from that injury, I've just been pretty miserable with my allergies also. I have really bad days and it's getting so annoying. (in case you are wondering what we are dealing with vs. the rest of the US, here is your answer).

The youngest two, Serena and Jameson, have also been snot nosed messes the last few days as well. Calli seems to not have developed allergies, but give it enough time here and I'm sure she will. So I've been wiping lots of noses lately!!

We've been busy with playdates, birthday parties, doctors appointments and all that stuff in between. But I enjoy when life is busy because it makes it go by faster and fills up my days :). Tomorrow I think I am off to get my feet evaluated to find the perfect shoes for running. I want to minimize the chance of getting another injury so I am desperate to do anything!

Week Three

Last week was probably my most difficult week I've had since I started running two months ago. I know there will be many more to come, but I am a little discouraged for now. On Monday I headed to a very crowded gym and started off the week with a great three mile run. However, I'm realizing that in order to get a treadmill in the mornings I'm going to have to be there right when the childcare opens at 8am so this will mean quite a few early Monday and Wednesday mornings. I am lucky that Tuesday is my light day and I don't have to run as far (I could also cross train on the elliptical or bike, but I just like to run) because I can't get to the gym until after 9am after dropping Calli off at preschool. On Tuesday I had a great two mile run. I set my pace for a 9:13 mile at a one incline and finished the two miles in about eighteen minutes. For the last half mile or so I had my pace somewhere in the high 8 minutes. I felt really good about that run and knew that it would make going longer distances the next few times easier if I pushed myself on the very short runs. On Wednesday I absolutely had to get to the doctor to deal with my gross allergies so I wasn't able to go in the morning. I had to squeeze in gym time after Calli's dance that afternoon. The kids and I left from there, changed in the car and went to the YMCA so I could run my three miles. That was the run that I started feeling more sore than normal and the next day I was really feeling it. But I felt lucky that I had two days for some R&R and thought for sure I would be ready for my five mile run on Saturday morning.

Well Saturday morning came and I was still not feeling my best, but I really really wanted to get my run in. It was 19 degrees outside when we made our way to the gym at 8am. The best treadmill was open for me, guaranteeing that I would be able to do the long run since I had an hour on the machine. When I started running I immediately had my doubts if I would be able to finish. For whatever stupid reason, I am one of those people that tries to push through the pain instead of resting myself. After the first mile I was starting to feel a little better but was still in a noticeable amount of pain. I completed a little over five miles and it was amazing to me that when I stopped to walk at the end, I wasn't even out of breath. I could breathe normally through my nose and wasn't panting at all. I was kind of disappointed because if my muscles had felt better I would have gone for six miles.

So now here I sit: Monday morning, having completed a three and a half mile run earlier and feeling no better than the other day. I had a day of rest on Sunday and after spending most of Saturday in quiet agony, I was feeling considerably better. I felt about the same today and decided to forego rest and get to the gym bright and early. Today begins the week when I leave my three mile runs behind and add half a mile to them. When I began the run this morning I was not feeling good, but again, I just decided to push through it. After a few hours of resting, I feel better, but what does that even mean? Am I going to feel crappy again for my run tomorrow and the next day?

So in light of that, I have decided to take it off this week. I will see how I feel Saturday and possibly attempt my long run. I am just so mad!! I feel like I will suffer a huge setback and I have been doing so well. I do not want my endurance to be compromised, but if I injure myself further I might not be able to get back into running any time soon. It's very frustrating that just when I am really starting to get into running and I am finding myself able to complete longer distances and complete shorter distances without being tired, that I get injured and have to take a step back. I have been stretching like crazy trying to get through it and hope it will go away, but it's not helping much. And it's very hard to stretch your upper buttock/lower back!!

So I had both positive and negative things last week. All I can do is move forward and hope my body will want to move with me.

Just Whistle a Happy Tune

I know, I have been Negative Nancy lately. I don't really know why! I am not losing my mind (well, most of the time), I am generally happy in my life, but I suppose it's just been one of those weeks, which really doesn't bode well for the rest of 2010, but I digress. You know how all the little annoyances sometimes can add up and suddenly you have a big pile in front of you and you just explode; well that has been me lately. Overall, my kids are healthy, I am fairly healthy (although these allergies I have suddenly developed thanks to living in the #2 city for allergies are kicking my butt!!), Richard is healthy, we have a roof over our heads, food on our table and our kids are happy and sometimes well behaved. What more can you ask for? Maybe I'm just feeling restless and antsy and ready to move on. I feel like there are quite a few things I am looking forward to this year, but I have to wait awhile and I am somewhat of an impatient person. I hate pinning my happiness on things to come because I know someday I will look up and my kids will be completely grown and I will wish I had just enjoyed these days more.

I am sure most people don't come to this blog to read about my boring life. You are probably just thinking that I need to get on with posting photos of the kids and talking about them. So without further ado and hullabalu:

Here is one of Calli's latest getups. She is always dressing herself in the funniest outfits. Ballerina tutu over her jeans? Check. Heavy winter coat? Check. Witch shoes from Halloween? Check!

And here is Miss Serena, snotty nose and all. See what I mean about the annoying allergies, day in and day out??

I love the way Jameson is looking at me in this photo. He is saying "Mom you are the best and I love you sooo much". Don't ever lose that look Jameson!!!

I tried to get some pictures of him crawling, or at least in the crawling position and these were the best I could get.

Gripes and Blessings

Serious Gripes for the Day:

Drive through pharmacies. What is the point??? I was the second person in the outter lane and sat there for five minutes while there appeared to be nothing going on between the car in front of me and the pharmacist. So I put the car in reverse and backed out to find a parking spot and drag three kids through the freezing weather to pick up some stupid nasal spray which ended up being $35. No generic brand apparently. And the worst part is that the cars in front of the lines were still sitting there. SERIOUSLY???

Frontage roads. They are my enemy!! I literally avoid going to some places because I know trying to pull out of the parking lot onto a fast moving frontage road is going to be a nightmare. Unfortunately everything in this city is built on the freeway (why, I don't know!!) so I don't have a choice a lot of the time. So today I miss my entrance by ONE driveway and the only way to get back is to get on the frontage road and take the freeway turnarounds to get back to where I started. Lovely. Whoever designed the screwy freeway systems and roads here was not using their brain.

People who fly through my neighborhood at 45 miles an hour and then sit in the passing lane of the freeway going 60mph. Yes, it makes so much more sense that a residential neighborhood is the better place to speed. I can see how noticing a school or park full of kids would make you want to step on the gas. Instead, why don't you imagine that it's YOUR child on the side of the road and drive a little more cautiously. Oh and get out of the passing lane of the freeway if you are not passing anyone. Seems simple enough.

My lower back is really hurting today. It started during or after my run (or just sometime, I can't remember) on Tuesday. I ran three miles last night and was really feeling it afterward. This morning it was hard to even walk and although it's feeling better as the day goes on, it's definitely nice that I have two days rest before my long run on Saturday. It's just kind of annoying because don't want to lose any ground on my training and have to take time away for injuries.

And a Few Blessings...

Jameson's head has improved by 2mm more, bringing his assymetry to 7mm down from 14mm. This is a 7mm change and he is officially more than halfway through the treatment. He also has brachyochephaly (this has something to do with the length to width ratio of the head not being right. It's when the head is wider than it should be) and has made significant progress in growing lengthwise. Just two to three more months and we will be rid of the helmet. Although it will be kind of sad that everyone won't know we're 49er fans anymore!

Hearing Serena calling "Calli, Calli" as she tries to find her big sister to play with her. It's pretty darn sweet.

Watching Calli get a snack down for her little sister or assist her with anything else. Calli is (most of the time) a fantastic big sister and doesn't get enough credit for this.

So that is my blog of the day. Maybe the blessings should have come before the gripes, but it's better to end on a good note. And besides, I had some frustrations to get our first before I could get on to the good stuff!

Weekend Recap - Happy New Year!

For the life of me, I can't figure out why I ever thought New Year's Day was such a big deal. So what, the calendar flips from 2009-2010. We all have to write '10 instead of '09 (and we won't get the hang of it until we are halfway through 2010. Heck I am having problems even typing it!). The appeal of staying up until midnight to ring in the new year has worn off. Guess what? It will still be 2010 when I am woken up at 7am. Why in the H-E-double hockey sticks would I want to stay up until 12am when I can get in many more hours of precious sleep before that? Well, that's what I thought and I won't even go into the fact that every moron for miles around was lighting off fireworks at midnight. It sounded like some of them were hitting my house when it woke me up at 12am. It was ridiculous. Yeah, not even going to go there, I am putting it behind me and moving on..........

Anyway, I am also not big on New Year's Resolutions. Never really made 'em and never really wanted to. My weight loss started a few months ago and the marathon goal came up around that time too and I didn't need to wait until New Year's to come up with it. In fact, I think the whole idea is silly. Why can't we vow to be better people any time of the year? Why let ourselves slack off, be unhealthy, be terrible people most of the year and then suddenly decide that's going to change January 1st, only to give up (if you're lucky) two months later?

This year I have a resolution: BE A BETTER MOTHER. I know this sounds silly, but it is personal to me. I want to be a better mom to my kids, I want to yell less, hug more and do things together. I want to spend more one on one time with each of them. When you have multiple kids; when you have THREE kids; when you have three kids in four years, finding special time for each one of them can be a challenge. Jameson is still a baby so I get a little break there, but Calli needs it and Serena is at the age now where she needs the time too. So I am vowing to set aside some time every other day for each kid. With Calli it will be pretty easy: we can play board games, read books, watch a movie together. Serena presents a more difficult challenge as her attention span is very short, but one on one time with her is crucial, given that she is the middle child.

So that is my challenge for this year that I am going to stick to and make work. I have started trying to improve all aspects of my life physically and mentally and I feel this is the last step. I am not disappointed in the mom that I am, but I know I can be better. I know I can have more patience. I know I can teach more, I can listen more, I can spend more time with them.

On to the recap:

Thursday was New Year's Eve (and Grandpa Bob's birthday!!!) and Richard had to work. I met a friend at the mall and we had a lot of fun. We went to a bookstore that is going out of business and got tons of books for 40-60% off. I got the kids my absolute favorite childhood book The Giving Tree for 40% off so I was stoked. After book shopping we had lunch at McDonalds in the food court, where we ran into Calli's school crush, I mean playmate and she couldn't stop talking about him for the rest of the time we were at the mall. We played in the play area and then did a little shoe shopping. Nothing makes me feel good like new books and a new pair of shoes so my day was pretty incredible. When Richard got home from work we had an early dinner at Red Robin and then spent the rest of the evening at home watching a movie when the kids went to bed. I couldn't believe they slept through all the fireworks; wish I could have been so lucky!

New Year's Day I made breakfast and we spent the day hanging out around the house. On Saturday we finally got out and went to Chuck E Cheese and then had dinner at a new Carls Jr. near us. It took them forever to finally put this fast food chain in San Antonio and when they did, the locations were all across town. Finally this new one opened up a couple months ago so this was the first time we went. Something to file under ONLY IN SAN ANTONIO: a mariachi band performs there EVERY NIGHT. I have no words, so I will just leave it at that.

Sunday was the last day that Sea World was open for the season so we were all prepared to go until I looked at our season passes and realized the kind we had bought expired on 12/31. I was majorly disappointed, but what can ya do? We ended up heading to the grocery store to get some much needed grocery shopping done, but I tell ya, I had some major gripes about that! We went to Super Target and althought I LOVE Target, it is not a grocery store. Sure you can throw the word Super in front of it and put a few aisles of groceries and pretend to be a grocery store...but if you have ever been in a REAL grocery chain you know Super Target is just not it. Their meat quality is far superior to the only grocery store I DO have in town so when I need to buy meat I choose to shop at Target. However, they were out of so much stuff, it was ridiculous. I mean, no potatoes, seriously?? I also kind of hate supporting HEB just because I can't stand that they have a monopoly here, but that is a battle I am not going to win. I look forward to the day I never have to step foot in one of those stores again and can actually get some decent produce, meat and non HEB brand foods from a different chain. Rant over.

Here are some happier things: pictures!

Serena got this stroller for Christmas. I thought it would be cute to put Jameson in it and have her push him around. As you can see, he is way too big for it!

Our sweet boy is crawling! Well, he is scooting technically. He pulls himself along to get whatever he wants. He gets up on his knees and hands a lot and rocks back and forth like crazy, but hasn't figured out how to put that together quite yet. No matter, I am just happy that he is on the move and can be more easily entertained!
Sisters are so sweet!

I was reliving my childhood days. I can't believe I even fit in this thing, but I had fun driving around ;)

Serena wanted a turn too, she is a pretty good driver.

Serena being silly (that is meatloaf that she decimated on her plate)

Calli (not) eating her dinner

Jameson!!

So I know I am biased, but I look at this picture and can't help but thing that I have the cutest kids EVER!

Serena was pushing Jameson around in this car. He was having a blast!

And then I put the two of them in the Barbie jeep and a neighbor friend helped get them down the driveway.

Here are some photos from Chuck E Cheese. The kids had so much fun (as you can see, Jameson had the MOST fun).