Behold...

My little wise one...and his cohorts!

"What in the hell happened to my arms?"

I am laughing...he is not.

Uh, dude - your ears are crooked. By the way - tonight, the stroller was not called a stroller, but rather referred to as The Hoverpod.

"Wait, Uncle AJ, how come YOU'RE not wearing a funny hat - NO FAIR!!?!?!?!"

Little Miss Gracie the Bumblebee...

Abby the Pirate....or as she'll correct you - the GIRL pirate! (please note, costume was made by my sister in law Carie - insane!)

We made her brandish her sword for the full effect...

Keeley the Zebra...another costume made by Carie

And as I was sitting down keeping an eye on everyone's stash - I noticed she'd actually made individual treat buckets for the girls. How she has the time being a mother of three, I have no idea - I only have one kid and I can't even manage to brush my hair every day...
Thus ends our first Halloween night as a family of three. It was totally fun, and I always love checking out other people's costumes. Such creativity out there, I'm always very impressed!

Happy Halloween everyone :)

Halloweeeeeen

Happy Halloween everyone! I'll be getting the boy into his costume later this evening, so I'll take pictures then...check back for some cuteness :)

I feel like I have so much to talk about...

We spent five days in San Diego with my entire family - hit Seaworld a couple of times and had a good time. Our camera got damaged in the Soak Zone of the dolphin show, which I'll write more about later...luckily we had a warranty, so we were able to return it for a new one, but I still have to get our pictures off the memory stick...check back later for those as well.

The biggest news? BOOTCAMP IS OVER - WOOOOO!

Today was the last day...we ran the mile and got our final evaluation and we were DONE.

The results are not jaw-dropping - but for a 20 day class (of which I missed a total of 5 days because of vacation and a sick baby), I'm happy with it.

I lost 4 pounds

I lost almost 5 inches total

I lost 2% body fat

I cut 1 minute and 22 seconds off my mile time

I feel better and healthier...and I feel like I've got a good jumpstart on an exercise routine of some sort. I must be crazy because I'm actually thinking of doing it again in December.

I also learned that I really just don't enjoy running at all. To me, the only good thing about running is how good it feels to stop. (sorry Aron and N.D. and all you other runner people out there) I feel like I struggle for every step...and I'm constantly talking myself out of stopping...or I'm just stopping and not caring if the drill sergeant man yells at me. I can walk like crazy - but running is just not my thing. Maybe it's because I'm not a skinny little thing, so hauling this body around is more challenging, or maybe it's all just a mind thing and I THINK about it too much....but no matter how hard I tried - I don't like it. My shins hurt, my knees hurt, my BOOBS hurt - which of course means my back hurts. I don't know how you runners do it. I give major props to you all because it's HARD!

So anyway - all in all, a decent experience...although it sucked to get up so early and was definately a challenge with a sporadically sleeping 6 month old. I dreaded it at times, but I was always proud of myself after each class, and proud that I didn't give up and I hung in there even though ALOT of people originally in the class dropped out by the end.

Still - HAPPY DANCE THAT IT'S OVER!!!! hehehee

The boy is sleeping, and I still have to give him a bath, get him costumed up and head over to church with my brother and his family for some good Halloween fun.

I'll leave you with some scrumptious pics...
This is my 3 year old neice Gracie holding Adam:

And my little man sleeping off his 6 month shots - camo bandaids and all!

Later!

Paranoia

When I was a babysitting teenager, the rule was to put a sleeping baby on their stomach. Nowadays it's ALL about babies sleeping on their back. As a new mom, the fear of SIDS is ever present in my mind, and everything you read/watch/hear will instill this sense of paranoia about almost everything sleeping related. Bumper pads, stuffed animals and even blankets are the root of all things evil for a sleeping baby...and of course, ALWAYS make sure your baby is sleeping on their back.
Well I still have bumper pads on the crib...the breathable ones...and I still use a blanket on him because we live in a freezing old house with no insulation...but what's freaking me out is that my kid has shown a distinct preference for stomach sleeping. From the very beginning, he wanted to roll onto his side, and he's always grabbed blankets or clothing and buried his face in them. On the few occasions he's fallen asleep on the couch, he turns towards the cushions and rubs and buries his face before falling asleep.
Hubs and I have been probably a bit overly paranoid about SIDS. The first night we had him home - hubs had the video monitor camera about 2 inches from his face so he could see if he was breathing...haha. But I'm right there with him - we live by the angel care monitor, and I don't know what I'd do without a video monitor. Sometimes I think all this high tech convenience stuff can breed paranoia and make all our fears worse.
But now, it's ten fold because no matter what we do - Adam rolls onto his stomach to sleep. I've gotten up countless times and flipped him over...we've used a sleep positioner (he rolls OVER it)...no matter what he wants to sleep on his stomach. And he sleeps so WELL - his power naps are gone, and he snoozes in his crib like a champ. Of course I have the angel care on and the video camera thing with me at all times...but it still freaks me out.

I've read that as long as they are rolling over on their own, it's not dangerous - and he can roll over, but he hasn't learned how to roll onto his back yet...he can get over, but not back to where he started. Should I be worried about this?
I'm just wondering how spastic I have to be about this whole stomach sleeping issue....thoughts? anyone?

Roger That...

Some of you already know that I work mostly from home...I go into the office about twice a week - but otherwise I'm here in my home office trying to juggle motherhood and work...which includes answering my work phones from 8am-5pm.

Hubs has noticed that at times it's difficult for me to be on the phone if my hands are full or I'm feeding or bouncing or whatever - so he decided to go on a hunt for a good headset. He came home one day and produced a phone that I can clip to myself as well as a handy dandy headset that will help me be HANDS FREE - wooo!

The thing is a lifesaver, but I was having a hard time keeping the phone clipped to my pants, if I didn't have the right pockets, it kept flipping off everytime I sat down...and I realized I needed an actual BELT. Well, I haven't worn a belt since like, the EIGHTIES - as I don't really want to draw attention to that general area, know what I mean? So I went on a search for one of hubs belts. He wears one for work, so I knew he had to have an extra one lying around somewhere. But after looking everywhere, I couldn't find one...but then I stumbled upon something coiled up and crammed in our shoe rack. I was in luck! It was a belt. Except...well....it was one of the most hillbilly looking belts ever. I think it was a gift from someone because it has hub's name stamped in the back, and it's black and turquoise and gold with eagles all over the side, and a giant silver belt buckle with an EAGLE HEAD on it. I've never seen him wear it, but I burst out laughing at the thought.

I shrugged and figured "oh well, as long as it works - nobody will actually see me"

and strapped that sucker on, clipped on my phone, and I was happy.

Until I looked in the mirror.

Let's just the say I expected the fashion police to come screaming to my door at any second.

I happened to have a phone call from hubs sister that day, so I explained to her what I was wearing and why and she laughed her butt off and insisted that I take a picture and send it to her. I really don't think she believed me...but now I have proof.

Behold - my fashion faux pas!

Sexy no?

Methinks there is some much needed belt-shopping in my future.

"this is soaring eagle, over and out"

gotta love bullet style...

Fell off the blog wagon again! Damn, and I was doing so well too...filling you all in on my morning brutality. So to get up-to-date on the last few days:

-The boy is all clear on the ear-infection front...and also cleared of teething issues (thank God because if that's how teething was going to go, I'd rather him just be a gummi bear forever)

He does however have a "virus"...which means I've just had to dope him up to make him comfortable and let him ride out the thing on his own. Tylenol is my friend.

-Doc said that if he wasn't better by the end of the weekend, to bring him back Monday - so yesterday we went back (since he still had a low grade fever, and had developed a cough), and it seems he's on the tail end of things, so no need for antibiotics - oh! and we got the all clear to start him on baby food.

-the boy loves Sweet Potatoes...although hubs and I were covered in a fine orange mist during the feeding process.

-He does NOT however, enjoy rice cereal mixed with pear juice (recommended for constipation by the doc) - he literally GAGGED several times and then eyeballed me with severe distrust like I tried to feed him liver or something.

-Bootcamp is still hard...lots of weights and running, same as last week...and I'm still wondering what the hell I was thinking by signing up for this voluntarily.

-Also, that whole 5am wake up alarm? Most days I want to chuck it against the wall, roll over, and go back to sleep. You could say I'm not so much a morning person...

-We have finally transitioned Adam to his own crib in his own room. (I know some of you are thinking, FINALLY! - and others may be thinking ALREADY? But I've asked around and seriously it seems there is no hard and fast rule to when the transition should take place - I just waited until he got too big for the cradle) The first night sucked and I must have been up about 15 times. The second night he slept from 9pm until 4:20am...total shock...he's just unpredictable.

-I have to admit, I'm a wee bit sad that he won't be in his cradle next to me anymore. He's growing up! But it's also TIME...I'm ready to have my room back.

-Which also reminds me that tomorrow he will be 6 months old...nutty.

-Anyone care to share your thoughts on the flu shot? I've never gotten it myself - I even turned it down when I was pregnant against the advice of my OB...but my pediatrician highly recommends it for Adam. I have friends who are all about the flu shot - and friends who are completely against it....thoughts? anyone?

-Our furnace busted, wouldn't you know it - right when it gets freezing cold at nighttime? The night Adam slept until around 4am, I plucked him out of his crib to change his diaper and he was a frickin POPSICLE - thank you, thank you - I'll take that mother of the year award now. I took him back to bed with me to snuggle him back to warmth, and told hubs how guilty I felt and he goes "it's okay - he's thawing out, he'll be fine". Ha.

I think that's it, although I'm sure I forgot something because I'm tired...and it's only 9:30pm - woooooo, party animal!

How about some squishy baby pics...

Tricep Torture...

Before I tell you about today's butt whipping session...I have brag about my hubs for a sec.

See, last night was rough - my little man is still running a low grade fever (gonna call his doc once their office opens) and had a terrible night last night full of tossing and turning and crying and EH-EH-EH....either his teeth are really bothering him, so much that even tylenol won't help...or something else is going on - I suspect ear infection since he's had one already....all of which means I'm on very little sleep. I finally got him good and asleep and in his bed without fussing at 4:30am - so there was absolutely no point in trying to get any shut-eye by then since my alarm was going to go off at 5am.

I wearily got dressed and was tempted to not go and stay home with the boy - but I decided to suck it up and just kept my cell phone on me in case hubs felt I should come home.

I was soooooo not motivated this morning, but I arrived...got out of the car...opened up the trunk to get my weights and mat, and saw a big note from hubster saying :

Be Brave - You Can Do It - I Love You!

That just put the biggest smile on my face, and gave me the push I needed to get through this morning. I Heart Hubs!

Okay, so the first thing he made us do after we stretched and class time began, was go outside and run five laps around the parking lot...now, I have to say I'm rather proud because even though I despite the running - I completed ALL five laps without stopping or walking...that my friends, is a huge accomplishment for me. I was the last one of course, but I didn't care - I'm only in competition with myself, and as long as I finish and can say that I ran the whole way, I feel pretty good about that.

Then it was back inside for some tricep torture. After all of yesterdays arm workouts, my arms were so sore last night, I could hardly bring my fork to my mouth - how's THAT for irony? I couldn't pick up Adam without wincing, and I knew this morning it was gonna huuuuurt. Well, he continued on with the arm workouts, only today he focused on the triceps which is where most of the pain is - all of us newbies were cringing during this workout because it was tough - especially with already sore muscles.

And in between each set, we have to drop and do crunches...and then he added in obliques - which meant leaning back far enough to get your feet off the ground and holding a weight above your belly and moving side to side. I had a helluva time keeping my feet off the ground and he walked over and was about to give me crap when I looked at him and said "don't even, you're working with a c-section belly over here, I'm doing the best I can"

That deterred the yelling - and he let me cheat a bit by resting my feet on a weight - wooo!

They SLICED through my muscles, that should give me some leeway, shouldn't it?

Anyway - after all the horrible arm stuff, he told us to get outside and bring 10 pound weights (I've been using 5 pounds for the weight training stuff) with us. So we all get our 10 pounds and he makes us line up....the dreaded cones were out again...and then he makes us take 2 laps around the parking lot to warm up. After that, we had to power walk holding our weights (20 pounds!) to the cones and back...for 1 minute, and then we'd put our weights down and sprint to the cones back and forth for 1 minute. Over and over and over and over...and each time I picked up those weights I kept telling myself you're just holding the baby - you're just holding the baby. It sucked.

After about a half hour of that - we had to run one lap WITH our weights, and three laps without...

It was tough. And when I got home, and the boy was still asleep - I decided to take the opportunity for a shower, but it took me a good 5 minutes to get the sports bra off (wearing two really helps by the way)...and then I realized that I couldn't get my arm high enough to reach the shampoo. My arms hurt THAT bad. It took me three tries to get that bottle knocked over...ha!

Two days of week one left...I can make it! I think

Allright, I'm off to call the doctor - my little man doesn't want to eat anything and he just LOOKS like he doesn't feel good, fever came back too...wish us luck!

Day 2

Well...it's funny to me now that I thought running the mile sucked yesterday, because I'd much rather do that, then experience today's workout. Day 2 was HARD. This is all so much harder than I thought it was gonna be.


Seriously you guys, I'm just not sure I'm cut out for this class...


Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to give up (at $10 a class paid in advance, I'm too cheap to give up) - but I just feel like everyone else is waaaaay ahead of me fitness-wise, and I'm just struggling.
I guess that should be even more of a reason to stay huh? I'll try and remind myself of that when I'm huffing and puffing and trying not to cry while running laps tomorrow.
We're supposed to arrive a bit early to get in some stretching because that's not part of the class...we do that on our own time - well I only got a few minutes of stretching in because Adam woke up right as I was leaving and I had to stick him in bed with hubs and leave. Plus, he woke up again at 2:30, needing changing and a bottle (why oh why did he stop sleeping through the night NOW???) so I was dragging once again.
The first part of class was with a partner...thank GOD my friend Kelli is doing this with me because I hate partnering with people I don't know - and we used resistance bands. We did 20 reps of arm stuff and then had to lock ankles and do 20 sit ups while clapping hands with our partner. Crunches, I can do...Sit Ups are a different story - but I must say..that first set of 20 sit ups, we kicked BUTT - slapped hands and had no problem keeping up. Then it was back to the bands, and on the second set of sit ups, we both tried to get up and it wasn't happening...hahahaha - we started laughing because it was like our stomach muscles just gave out or something. I mean, they were sore from all of yesterday's crunches, but after that first set and doing so well - it was WIERD to not be able to get ourselves up. The drill sergeant guy came over and stood over us and let us use his hands as leverage...said it's just because we're not used to it (plus, throw in the pregnancies we went through and it's even worse...hahaha) - so that was a bit embarrassing that we had to have his help for that part, but oh well...he got us up and made us resist on the way back down. We did that quite a few times, and let's just say - my stomach is so sore, it hurts to take a breath in. This class is making me feel more out of shape than I thought I was...haa!
Then we went onto weight training arm stuff...and my shoulders are killing me - but it's a good kind of hurt, like I really accomplished something. I want some GUNS, ya know?


And then it was back outside for more running - an entire half hour of running....sweet mother am I sick of the running. I'm thinking of doubling up on the sports bra too because the ladies don't like the running. Come to think of it, there is not one single part of my body that enjoys the running, at least not yet. My marathon running friend Aron makes it sound so great and she's so motivating, but damn...I think I was born without that running gene or something. Hopefully it'll get easier as time goes on, but I'm so sore right now that I'm reallllllly dreading tomorrow.



He set up a bunch of cones and we had to run and touch the bottom of each cone and then move onto the next one in a zig-zag formation, and then when we got to the last cone, we had to run a lap around the parking lot. It's a big parking lot with a HILL...and of course anytime he'd catch anyone walking (usually me, since everyone else just seemed to zip on past me barely breathing hard, while I'm gasping for air like I smoke 3 packs a day) he would yell. I hate the yelling, so I would jog - but it was so hard. The cone/lap thing went on for about 20 minutes, I couldn't even tell you how many laps we did, but it was crazy. So then we finally finish, and we are all getting water and he goes "okay ladies, gather around" and then he goes "okay...to finish up today....4 MORE LAPS, COME ON LADIES - LET'S GO! NO WALKING!"


damn it...



Today, I am so sore, it actually hurt to snap adam's onsie after changing a diaper. Why do I get the feeling that tomorrow is going to be worse?



moving on...anyone up for squishy baby pics?

If you look close, you might be able to see his two bottom teeth (yes, TWO!)

My big boy in his high chair...

Not so much diggin the rice cereal...

I survived Day 1...but just barely

Allrighty...so my mantra for today is "Holy Sweet Mother, what the HELL have I gotten myself into?!?!?!?!?!"
I was saying that this morning after the class, and I thought it would dissipate as the day wore on, you know...it wasn't THAT bad...you can do this! but NOPE - it's right there, forefront in my mind.
So here's the scoop on everything since last night:

-10:30pm...I decide I should probably head for bed, but then I remember that Adam fell asleep alot earlier than usual, so I fed him a bottle figuring that would deter any early morning wake-ups he may have had in store for me.

-11pm...he's fast asleep, so I put him in his bed, and he starts fussing and grunting and waking himself up...

-11:30pm...he's awake...

-sometime around midnight...FINALLY, he's asleep and I'm right behind him

-2:00am...he suddenly screams himself awake, and I notice he feels really hot - so I take his temp and it's around 100 degrees. I give him tylenol, and notice he's really rubbing the sides of his face alot and complaining and obviously uncomfortable...which made me concerned about another ear infection. I changed him and tried to feed him - wasn't interested - so I just snuggled with him until the tylenol kicked in and he seemed to relax a bit.

-3:00am...he's still awake and finally wants a bottle, so I feed him, and keep checking his temp which is going down nicely. I sit in bed and worry about whether or not it's an ear infection, or just teething...damn it's so hard to distinguish the two because the symptoms are so similiar.

-3:45am...he finally falls asleep, laid out on a cool pillow next to me - and seems really peacefull...his temp is normal now, but I'm still worried.

-4:00am...I doze off

-5:00am - BEEP - BEEP - BEEP....time to get up for BOOTCAMP!

&*%$!

I wake up hubs and convince him to take my place next to the boy (he still feels fine temp wise)...hubs rolls over and goes "don't die"...HA!
I blindly stumble into the bathroom, throw on my clothes and head out the door. We are supposed to arrive 15 minutes early for our "evaluation".
Come to find out - our "evaluation" means stepping on a scale/body fat calculator while a 32 year old MALE trainer writes everything down, and the proceeds to MEASURE EVERY INCH OF MY FLABBY BODY.

&*%$!

Luckily, since I'm on 3 hours of sleep, I probably wouldn't have cared if Brad Pitt himself was doing the weighing and measuring...I just wanted to go back to bed.
So class starts with everyone having to stand up at their yoga mat and introduce themselves and what they do for a living and their age and why they are there...I hate that kind of thing, so that thrilled me of course.
And then we proceed into a 7-minute long stretching exercise...easy stuff - which actually for a moment had me thinking "oh, well this isn't so bad"
until he walked over, cranked on some music and said "OKAY LADIES - DROP AND GIVE ME TWENTY PUSH-UPS...NOW!"
and I thought...crap - push ups? I don't DO those! EVER!
but he was yelling, so I dropped and did my best impression of 20 push ups, and he would walk around the room and go "ALL THE WAY DOWN!"
and then when those were finally done, we had to roll over and do crunches - and then more push ups and then more crunches (which he kept adding to by the way...and yelling) - and I think we did five sets of 20 push ups and a crapload of crunches in between. It hurt, and I've decided that I hate push ups with every fiber of my being.
So after that he goes "allright - lets gather up your stuff and head outside"
?????
So he puts out a bunch of cones around the parking lot and makes the other returning bootcampers start running laps - and he takes all us bootcamp virgins (four of us) and walks us across the street and tells us we're gonna run the mile and get timed at it.
and I thought...crap - I have to RUN? I don't do that! EVER!
He told us which route to take and he would be waiting with his stopwatch at the finish - so off we went. Honestly? It's a big blur of me gasping for air and trying to run as much as I could, but mostly walking super fast. I was LAST out of all four newbies - but I figured I would be...since you know, I don't RUN. ANYWHERE.
I did catch up with one other girl though, and we finished together...my final time on the mile was 13 minutes / 36 seconds.
I have absolutely no idea if that's good or really bad - but I'm just glad it's over. Until tomorrow that is.

My whole body hurts - even my LUNGS hurt. And I'm in need of SLEEP.
I'm praying to GOD that he doesn't make us do any push ups tomorrow because I will probably end up curled in a ball on my mat sobbing.

Good TIMES! Can someone please remind me why I signed up for this brutality?

Onward to day 2....

Master Moocher

I found a new hobby.

A while ago, my friend Angella sent me a website for a book exchange. I glanced at it - thought it was cool, and saved it in my favorites folder for when I have a spare moment. Well, seems I rarely have a spare moment these days...but now that the boy is rolling over (pictures of that will be following this post), I fear that he's not too far away from crawling, which is when life as I know it, will be O-V-E-R.

I've been mulling over in my head what I will do when that happens, and I've decided the best thing to do would be to put up a baby gate in our office, clear out the bottom three shelves of our bookcases, and cram them full of toys and stuff so he can be in here with me and feel free to destruct away without me worrying.

This idea means that I need to make ROOM on my shelves for that to happen, and since I had two boxes of books set aside (not counting what's still on the shelves) that I needed to get rid of, I decided to get on that and finally check out the book exchange.

For any of you that have books lying around and you don't know what to do with them, but you spent money on them, so you don't exactly want to just give them to goodwill....go to THIS WEBSITE PRONTO:

http://www.bookmooch.com/

Basically, you put up a list of your "inventory" books. You get 1/10th of a point just for putting books on your inventory list. Then you will recieve emails from anyone who may want that book and you can either accept or deny based on how much you are willing to pay for shipping. You get one point for each book someone mooches off of you....and each book is worth one point - unless it's out of the country. The nice part is that you can also add books to a "wishlist"...and I have a THREE PAGE wishlist saved on my computer...I get emails everytime someone adds a book I want, so I can go mooch off of them. It's fantastic because I am getting rid of books I don't want anymore, and basically trading them in for books that I want.

So far, it's fabulous and I now have a stack of books waiting to be read, and another stack of books ready to be shipped tomorrow. This isn't really helping with my clearing out of the shelves...but oh well :)

I've gotten about 10 books already...shipped out alot more than that...and I have 30 points sitting in my account ready to be used whenever I find more books that I want. LOVE - IT.

Moving on....

Yes, the boy is rolling over now - here is what I was able to capture for your viewing pleasure:

Ready? Are you watching?

Here I go!
Allllll the way over now!
Did I do it????
I DID! I DID!
Alllllriiiiiiiight!!!
If only this head wasn't so heavy...
So....Very....Heavy....
He sleeps...
Well, for about 10 minutes anyway...

**Boot camp starts tomorrow at the butt crack of dawn, so if I can tear my sore muscles away from my reclining sofa...I will post and let you all know just exactly how much it sucked :)**

new favorite picture

Heart.....melting...