Baby love

We are all smitten with Isabel. Seriously. Alex is hysterical because he is constantly trying to kiss her and gets right in her face and talks in a really high, soft voice to her. I am sometimes worried that he's going to "love" her a little too much, but his affection is very genuine and it certainly beats him trying to throw a truck at her or something like that. Devin is the ultimate big brother and is quick to help in any way. They are constantly asking to hold her and checking on her. It is really wonderful.

Andy and I are both sleep deprived but are really happy with our little girl. Andy holds Isabel all evening long (I think he really doesn't want to be back at work, but he'll get his two weeks at home once my mom leaves) and he is still wearing his bracelet from the hospital. =) I am just so in love with my baby doll. She is wonderful.

We would be lost without my mom here helping out with the boys, the laundry, whatever needs to be done and frankly I'm a little terrified for the time when she is gone and Andy is back at work... but that is another story.

Many people have asked me how we chose her name, so here goes: my grandmother's middle name is Veronica, and I have always loved that name, so we chose that for her middle name. We both also loved the name Isabel or Isabella. "Belle" was my niece Brianna's nickname, and while we will never have another Brianna in the family, we thought that calling our little one Isabel would be a great way to honor Brianna's memory (and Brianna would have loved it!). Also, Isabel's Aunt Belinda was called "Belle" when she was little, so Izzy is in very good company. And it's a cool name. =)

welcome little one

Welcome Baby!

Isabel Veronica Blake

Monday, March 24th 2:33 pm

7 lbs 7 oz and 20.75 inches long

Andy and I are thrilled to welcome Isabel into our family (after what was thankfully an easy labor and delivery!). The boys are so in love with their little sister and we are all doing well.

pictures of the boys

After a rough Sunday I was pretty sore on Monday. According to my doctor that is completely normal, since the uterus is a muscle and mine certainly got a solid workout this weekend. Here I go, over training for an event again! Will my competitive nature ever settle down? =)

By yesterday I was feeling so much better and I even felt well enough to go to a pre-natal yoga class today. It is pretty exciting to know that we will meet this little one by Monday. I am ready.

I am posting a couple recent pictures of the boys, since they are getting so big! Enjoy.

Devin and Alex playing pirates.

Alex hiking. Check out that red hair!

The boys with the Easter bunny at our neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. They had a blast!!

no baby yet

We haven't met our little girl yet. My contractions continued to intensify and we went to the hospital at dawn but my labor proved to be false. Lots of contractions and no real progress with my cervix (I'm at three centimeters). The contractions didn't stop until mid afternoon, and that was with the help of a mild sedative. I had a good nap and felt much better, until the contractions started again about an hour ago. I know that my body is getting ready, but I really want the contractions to cease until its the real deal.

Fingers crossed!

body by baby

I have been meaning to post some pregnancy pictures for all the people who we haven't seen since November/December, and since we just got our new digital camera, here goes!





These were both taken this weekend, which I am starting to think was just in time.



I have been contracting on and off since this afternoon, but without any real intensity or regular pattern so I figured my body was just "practicing". However, I woke up about an hour ago and I think that this may be real. You would think that by my third child I would know when labor is starting, but my water broke both times, so that was a crystal clear sign. It would be pretty ironic if after all my well laid plans of mom coming in to help and an early induction this baby actually came earlier than expected... especially since all who know me well can vouch that being early would truly be a unique characteristic for this little girl. =)

More news soon...

the boys

I guess I'm not the only one getting ready for the baby. Today the boys were playing with two stuffed animals that they found in the baby's room and they were carrying them around like dolls. Devin had an elephant and Alex had a bear. They took turns cuddling them and pretending to feed them and carrying them around. It was so cute!
I know that I shouldn't be surprised, since they are aware that the baby is coming soon (especially since there are so many conversations about the baby these days and her room is nearly ready and we have received baby clothes from some friends), but I was. It was sweet to see them playing like that.

I realized the other day that Devin is just a couple months younger than I was when I met Annie. I couldn't help but wonder if any of the friends that he has made since we moved here would be life-long friends for him. I can only hope that he is that lucky, since Annie is clearly fundamental in my world. I miss her.

getting ready for baby

I think my body is getting ready to have this baby. Since Saturday I have noticed that I am having far more Braxton Hicks contractions and I'm getting the aches and pains in all kinds of interesting places. While I know that this is not a sign that I will be delivering anytime soon, I am getting more nervous about that happening. With my previous pregnancies I would have welcomed an early baby, but this time I am all about the plan.
My mom is coming to town the 21st (Woohoo!! Mom got clearance from her doctor to travel and drive and chase my boys. More importantly, she is really feeling like her old self!) and I will be induced on the 24th. I feel like I need a couple weeks to be ready (I have little projects to finish around the house and in the baby's room) and I really don't want to go early. For the boys I had everything done far enough in advance that I was just kind of waiting for the baby to come. That is not the case this time. Its all part of settling a new house, but Andy and I still fee like we have so many things to do!

That being said, I am getting quite excited about meeting this little girl. Yesterday I bought my my first little dress. =)

Lori McKenna show

I have been meaning to write a post about Lori McKenna since Andy and I went to see her (again!) last Thursday, but most things seem to take me a while lately.

Lori McKenna is a musician from Stoughton, MA whom I have grown to love (http://lorimckenna.com/). I first heard her folksy music when she was featured on Chronicle about five years ago (playing her guitar and singing while her baby was bouncing up and down in a little doorway jumper). Since then Andy and I have seen shows of hers at Club Passim in Harvard Square and even at the Paradise. She is an amazing songwriter and singer, and her musical career is truly a Cinderella story. A few years back some country stars (like Faith Hill and Sarah Evans) heard her music and started recording her songs. Since then she has toured with Faith Hill and Tim McGraw and has put out her first album on a major record label (although the four before that are truly amazing).

Imagine my surprise when we found that Lori was playing here in Charlotte (for what would actually be her first trip to NC). We were thrilled - my favorite local Boston artist here!! The show was far more mellow than the most recent one that we went to at the Paradise, and the crowd was far smaller, but Lori was awesome! I have to say that I wish she played some more of her older music, but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to her (and to Mark Erelli who plays with her but is a fantastic musician on his own http://www.markerelli.com from Cambridge, MA). Per Devin's request, I have recently put her Pieces of Me cd back in my car changer, since he was asking to hear the song "Mars". There is something truly adorable about hearing my four and a half year old singing, "I see Mars reflecting in my little boys brown eyes, and he says 'Mama I'm gonna get there someday. Mama I'm gonna get there someday'." Devin's other favorite on that album is the song "Fireflies" (which Faith Hill recorded), although Devin calls it "Peter Pan and Tinkerbell" because of the lyrics. I adore that song, but it reminds me more of my niece Brianna than of the boys. Alex however is partial to another song that Faith Hill recorded called "Stealing Kisses" which is on the Bittertown cd. Andy loves that our little Alex sings "I was stealing kisses from a boy. Now I'm begging affection from a man..." but I think its cute. Its funny how they can identify her voice now in other songs. I personally am partial to the song "Falter" these days (which is on both The Kitchen Tapes and Unglamorous), but actually would recommend any of her cd's. There is a little something amazing on each one that she has put out.

House pictures

I have promised pictures of the house, and now that we have added memory to the pc, I may actually be able to post them! Here goes...

This is our house from the front.

Here is a picture of the family room. The room is two stories high and it has amazing light all day long.

Here is the view of the hallway from the family room. I included this because it shows how open the floor plan is. We love it!

Here is the dining room (which happens to be the only room we haven't repainted). We are still working on getting coordinating dining room furniture, but these things take time. We found chairs we like though. =)

Here is the toy room (complete with boys playing).

Andy suggested I wait on the pictures of the kitchen until we replace the counters (hopefully by summer). The boys rooms and the nursery are nearly done and I will post pictures of those rooms when I have them.

As you can see, we have paint on the walls, but that is about it! Andy is anxious to hang pictures, but I haven't yet figured out where I want things to go. We'll get there though. Andy said I should post a picture of the guest room, so everyone knows that we are sincere in saying that we want visitors. I will say that the guest room will be far more comfortable soon, since we are upgrading to a king sized bed and planning to put our queen in the guest room. Now taking reservations.... =)

mom is home

and seems to be doing well. she still has quite a headache and will be visiting her doctors quite frequently over the coming month, but she's hanging tough! woohoo!!

my mom

My mom was in a car accident on Friday. She was making a left hand turn onto a busy street and was broadsided. It was pretty bad accident. She is doing alright, but is still in the hospital for observation because she has a small subdural hematoma. For us non-medical people that means that her brain bled from the trauma of the crash. She has been in the ICU under close observation since Friday, since they want to keep tabs on her brain function (testing her every couple hours with questions and small physical tasks) and any swelling in her brain. The good news is that the CT scan that she had this morning showed that there is no more blood now than there was on Friday, and she was moved out of the ICU to a regular room. She has a bad headache and her neck and left side are pretty banged up, but otherwise she is doing well. We are hopeful that she will continue to improve and get home soon.

well the weather outside is awesome

Have I mentioned that the weather here seriously rocks? I have never lived somewhere as sunny as this. Its fantastic! I find it much easier to get in a good mood when the sun is shining and I'm not freezing cold. Lately most days the high is around fifty degrees (some warmer, some colder), but sunny and fifty is perfect - especially for February!! Now who knows how I'll feel about the weather in August, but so far it has been a wonderful change from New England.

Andy and I are working diligently to settle the house (and get the baby's room done) and good progress is being made. I had intended to upload some pictures of the house (since more than a few friends have asked for them), but the pc where we store photos is in need of memory and is god-awful slow and I am terribly impatient. But soon - I promise!

The saga of the potentially broken foot...

Alex has been limping since the Superbowl. I don't think he's just trying to show his support for Tom Brady, much as we all love number 12. We had some friends over that day and while many adults were outside when Alex went down, no one saw what happened. All we know is that he came in the house sobbing that he was pushed down and the limping began. After a couple days he seemed to be doing better (still limping some, but also running around with Devin and riding his bike), so we thought he was healing. Then we had a very active weekend; I'm not sure if it was the hiking or the jumping on the trampoline, but by Sunday he was limping badly again. Now this limping didn't stop him from running around and playing, but when he was walking he would limp. On Monday I took him to the doctor and we went for Xrays, only to be told that he had a small fracture on his left foot. The nurse set up an appointment with an orthopaedic doctor for this morning, and advised us that the ortho would likely immobilize Alex's leg for a while... and the panic began. How can we immobilize a child who doesn't sit? Would it be a cast or a boot? How long would he be in it? How will we explain this to him? How will I manage all of this in the last month of my pregnancy?
So today we went to the ortho, and she said that she does not see a fracture in the Xrays. The ortho was great. First she gave me a much appreciated anatomy lesson on how kids bones develop and the differences between "soft bone" (or cartilage) and "hard bone". Then she explained that what the radiologist thought might be a fracture in the left foot looked consistent across the right foot also, so she thought it was just how the bone is developing. She said that she thought his was more of a soft tissue injury, which should be addressed with anti-inflammatory meds and rest. She said that if he was totally hobbling or unable to put weight on the foot she would put him in a boot, but since he was getting around pretty well, she recommended motrin and rest.
Let's be clear that I am thrilled. Annie said it best when she said, "Alex and immobilize just don't go together well". But since my pediatrician told me that motrin and rest would be the treatment if there was no fracture before we ever went for Xrays, I couldn't help but wonder why I was even at the ortho this morning (after all, I have nothing else to do these days... right?). So while mildly annoyed, I am focused on the good news... we don't have to immobilize Alex. Woohoo!!

Two big boys

It's official. I have two big boys now. In addition to the facts that Alex (a) has stretched out and lost all of his baby fat and (b) speaks so well that I no longer need to translate for him to everyone except for the few who are proficient in toddler-ese, Alex is potty trained. Alex is potty trained!! This is not to say that we are completely accident free, but we're close. I am much more excited to deal with two accidents in a week instead of changing 5-6 diapers every day. He is so proud of himself and we are thrilled.

Yesterday we were "crafting" at the kitchen table, when Devin picked up a pencil and started writing out the alphabet. He got to "M" before he had to ask me for some help (maybe because that is the part of the alphabet song that's faster?), but he did it. He wrote the entire alphabet. He does this at a time when he is going through placement testing for Kindergarten. Recently Andy and I were considering whether Dev should go ahead to Kindergarten or if he should wait another year (as many of his friends with summer birthdays are doing). We decided that we think he's ready academically (and certainly physically), but we wondered if he's mature enough for Kindergarten. I think that he has solidified our thoughts on this. He's going; if we kept him back I think he would be absolutely bored with school.
My boys. I love my boys. Sometimes they make me so proud.

Brianna

Yesterday my niece Brianna would have been twelve. Twelve. I can't believe it. Twelve seems like such an enormous difference from the nine years that she was when I last saw her. I wonder what she would be like now. I am sure that she would still be smart and fun and athletic, since those characteristics seem fairly permanent. But what would she look like? Would she still be a little cutie or would she start looking more grown up? Would she be in that awkward phase where some of her features grow before others? Would she be gangly?

I like to think that she would still be energetic and fun, and a little boy crazy (since she was already starting to show interest), but that she would still maintain some of the innocence that we all loved. I can't imagine her at twelve. I guess she'll always be a little girl to us.

not quite an Easter baby

I saw my OB last week and things are progressing well. She is so laid back and considerate that I really feel lucky to have found her (thank you to Andy's co-worker Carla!). We got talking about the delivery and I expressed my concern about child care for the boys while in the hospital. Let me be clear, we have made some good friends who I know would watch the boys during labor and delivery so Andy could be with me, and for that I am really grateful. However, we don't have an Annie or a Clare or a Jen that I know can handle my two plus their own, who know my boys so well from years of interacting with them and who can work together to take care of the boys for the 2-3 days that I am in the hospital. So while I would have Andy on hand for the delivery, he would need to be home with the boys after that until we could get my mom down here. Well, given that this is the epitome of a healthy pregnancy and that the baby is measuring a healthy week ahead of schedule and that I tend to labor quickly, my doctor suggested inducing me a week before my due date. Woo hoo!!!! So on March 24th (the day after Easter) I will meet my baby girl. It feels a little strange going into this delivery knowing so many details; I know its a girl and I know when she will come. For both of my previous pregnancies we didn't know the gender or dates or anything. Its exciting either way, but I am glad to be able to plan a bit more for this one.
That being said, my parents were here this weekend so that they could see the new house (which met their approval, I think) and so that my Mom could start learning her way around in preparation for her solo tour with the little men in March. We had a really nice visit. My parents are easy going house guests. Before we had kids we did a lot of sight seeing when they came in town, which was fun because I got to act like a tourist in my own home (and we all know there is a ton to see in Boston!). Now they are content to hang out with their grandkids, and the touring is replaced with walks to the park, playing basketball and building with blocks. I think everyone enjoyed themselves, and we were sad to see them go. But since its nearly February (!!), we take comfort in knowing that we will see Grandma again very soon. Another exciting thing is that Annie (aka Aunt Mo) is going to come down after the baby arrives. I am thrilled. John (her husband) surprised her with the offer, and once they figure out child care and schedules on her end she will get her tickets for sometime in April. I can't possibly communicate how much it means to me to have my oldest and dearest friend here for such an exciting time in our lives. I am soooo lucky.

lazy day

Today we had a very lazy day... or at least as lazy as the two little men allow. In fact, the boys and I stayed in jammies all day long. It really was a nice change of pace. Alex is potty training, so we planned on staying home most of the weekend so we can keep him bottomless (since that worked well for Devin). He's really doing well so far, and hasn't had any accidents. In fact, he has only wet his pull-ups during naps or overnight. However, when it comes to bowel movements, he treats the pull-up like a diaper. I am sure that once we get him to poop on the toilet he will make a habit of that as well, but we need a good success there. Maybe tomorrow.

I am definitely feeling more tired than I expected this pregnancy. Today was the only day this week that I didn't feel completely exhausted by mid-afternoon, and I think that is only because I slept until 9:00 am this morning! I love my weekend sleep in day!! Once Andy gets up with the boys I put on the sound machine and close the doors to my bedroom to muffle the wild men and I can usually snooze pretty well. Its glorious!

After Andy had a few late nights at work this week, he encouraged me to have a night out. I was all set to meet up with a friend for manicures and maybe dinner, but when he got home I was so exhausted that all I managed to do was hide out in the sitting room in our bedroom and read for a while. I could have napped, but I thought that a 6:00 pm nap was a sure bet for a horrible nights sleep. So the reading was relaxing (and missing out on the dinner madness was great) and once the boys were happily in bed I had a chance to hang out with Andy (double bonus!).

The coming week will be a busy one with the painters here, two days off of school, our hospital tour and all the other unexpected mayhem before my parents visit next weekend. Our first visitors! Andy still wants to get a bed for the guest room before they come, but I think the pull-out couch will suffice for this visit. I'm sure that we will have the bed thing sorted before my mom comes to help out with the baby, but for now they will have to suffer through a couple nights on the pull-out. At least they have their own room again though. =)

all in a day

I have made a successful return to the gym - woohoo! Of course I haven't done anything all that strenuous or challenging, but its good to get moving and lift some again. I think that tomorrow I will try out a nearby Y that is supposed to have an amazing pool. The Y in our neighborhood only has an outdoor pool (and water park) and I have been missing my laps. Plus I'm sure that I would enjoy being buoyant at this point in my pregnancy. Speaking of, I had my ultrasound that week and everything looks great! Of course, they took special care in looking at the heart (two separate techs had a turn) and the baby is measuring a little ahead of my due date; should be another healthy little one. =) They did both a two dimensional and a three dimensional ultrasound, and the 3D one was wild. I could see her little profile so clearly and it was really cool to see the shape of her nose and face. She really reminded me of Devin. We'll see how close the resemblance is once she's here.
The boys were a lot to take today. Sometimes when one is naughty the other one joins in and things really spiral downhill quickly. It started outside with them pulling out clumps of grass and throwing them at each other. Then they were using the arm rests of my Adirondack chairs like diving boards, and finally they came inside only to have their first real food fight. A few minutes into dinner they started throwing kernels of corn at each other. Thankfully I ended that before they made it to fist-fulls of corn, but I was not at all happy. Of course they do all of this on a night when Andy isn't home because he's working late. Tomorrow should be another late night for Andy, but I am confident that after my wrath tonight we will not repeat this tomorrow. Not if they know what's good for them!

I miss the gym

Those who know me well know that I derive a certain amount of my sanity from going to the gym. Its like my reset button when things are crazy. Before the holidays I was making it to the Y a few times each week (and loving it!) but sadly I have yet to return. I was sick, so avoiding the gym was probably prudent, but now I am ready to go back and I am really missing it! I thought that this week would be my glorious return, but other priorities have usurped my morning plans. On Monday I went on a school tour (the effort to educate our eldest continues) and made the obligatory Target trip to get tissue and diapers (yes, Alex's behind takes priority over my workout). Today I worked through teacher recommendations for Dev's school applications, picked up eight different paint samples, scheduled meetings with two painters and (finally!!) got my hair cut. Tomorrow I have my glucose test and an ultrasound, so Thursday will be my triumphant return. I can hardly wait.

Let the search begin!

As we suspected, the local public school is not for us. We weren't sure about it when we chose this house, but were comfortable moving forward here since we knew that there were plenty of great private schools nearby. So we have begun the process of touring schools in the hopes of finding the right place for Devin for kindergarten next fall. Since most of the schools go K-5 or K-8, we are trying to find a place where we will hopefully be comfortable for years so we don't need to switch him again. The challenge is that most schools are accepting applications already and some close admission in the coming weeks! So we're busy. Some schools recommend that you start learning about the schools and the admissions process years in advance ~ clearly not an option for us. We are not visiting those schools. =) And the process for most of the schools is extremely thorough, including testing Devin, getting recommendations from current teachers and interviewing Andy and I. Pretty intense for kindergarten if you ask me.
I am also making myself crazy trying to figure out paint colors for the baby's room and the rest of the house (have I mentioned that the previous owners painted almost nothing in the four years that they were here?). I really want most of the painting done before the baby comes, so I am a woman on a mission right now. The folks at Benjamin Moore are going to love me! Andy wants to do the work in the baby's room, but we will hire someone for the rest of the house, since we have some two story rooms and all kids of vaulted ceilings (and Andy is not a big fan of scaffolding or heights). Yet another search commences...

Happy New Year

We had envisioned a lovely day playing with the kids and watching our beloved Illini in the Rosebowl, but things have not worked according to plan. Unfortunately half of the family is sick (Alex and I) and I think the other half is growing tired of our lazing around and coughing. Devin's plans of playing outside were foiled by the long afternoon naps that Alex and I took and by my general unwillingness to go outside while feeling gross. Andy had kid duty almost non-stop today, which we all know can be challenging, and the Illini certainly aren't playing their best football. While they still have a quarter in which to redeem themselves, the prospect looks bleak when facing the dominance of USC.
Ah well, things don't always go according to plan. I am much more relaxed about that fact than I was in my younger years, which I believe is a good thing. I certainly don't feel that this is a preview of what this year will hold for us, since we have many good things coming our way. =)

Home Sweet Home

We came back from Chicago on Friday and managed to sneak out before the snow was really a threat to our travel plans. Woohoo! We had a great trip. Everyone enjoyed themselves and we got to spend a good amount of time with our various family members (and even got the chance to see a couple friends too!). And I don't think we angered or offended anyone, which is always a challenge when we have so many schedules to try to manage, and so many demands on our time. Overall one of our better trips. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to see my cousins Donna and Barb. I had really hoped for some time with them, but between being busy with the family and my being extremely tired (not only because of my pregnancy, but Alex's fun sleep schedule had its impact), I never had the chance.
We were glad to have the weekend at home before Andy started his work week. In the past we always came back from trips on Saturday or Sunday and jumped right back into the routine on Monday, and I can now see the real benefit to having some time before getting back to reality. It was far more relaxing... the boys were happy to play with their Christmas presents that we had left behind for our trip, Andy and I had some time to unwind and get things done (like the eight loads of laundry I tackled) and we are more prepared heading into the week. Plus returning to the warm weather feels like a vacation even though this is home now. I'm sure that the novelty of the weather will wear off, but not yet. =) We were also quite excited to return home to a giant stack of Christmas cards from our friends and loved ones; they were wonderful! Its always nice to get the quick update from our far away friends, and now more and more of our friends fit into that category. We miss you!
We have our usual plans for New Years Eve... watch a movie and hope that I can stay awake until midnight. These plans started when I was pregnant with Devin, and have become our status quo since. Not terribly exciting, but I am sure that we will enjoy ourselves. I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year!!

Chicago

We're in Chicago now visiting the families and the boys have been loving the snow. I think we've spent at least an hour or more each of the last few days throwing snow balls and making snow men. They love it! The have even managed to get grandma (my mom) and Deda (Andy's dad) out playing with them (and my mom hates the snow!). We began our trip staying with Andy's parents. We typically stay with them towards the end of a trip, since their house is like a quiet respite after the mayhem and craziness of my large family, but we decided to switch things up this time. The boys have enjoyed themselves, but after a couple days they were really ready to see their cousins. Luckily that came today with a gathering at my sister's house. We had a great time catching up with everyone and the kids had a blast (meaning that I rarely saw them during the four+ hours that we were there, since they were too busy running around). I love seeing them interact with their big cousins, and its really fun to see how grown-up my nieces and nephews are getting.

Unfortunately Alex is not sleeping well on the road yet. This morning he slept until five am, which has been his latest morning yet. I love Alex, but at 4:30am I really don't feel the need to share my love with him. I am hopeful that tomorrow morning will be better (especially after playing with the cousins), but in case not I had better sign off.
Sweet dreams!

santa claus arrives!

Since we travel for Christmas each year, Santa comes to our house early so that we can have Christmas at home before we leave (isn't it nice how accommodating Santa is? I was no small feat pulling that off merely a couple weeks after we moved, but Andy and I did it!). We woke yesterday morning to a house full of presents and the boys had a blast. I think Santa went overboard a bit this year. I'm not sure if that is because of the move (wanting to spoil the boys a bit after uprooting their worlds) or if its because we forgot about some of the gifts that were purchased before the move, but they definitely made out. We had a lazy day in our pajamas and a wonderful Christmas dinner. The only thing missing was the snow, but hopefully we will see plenty of that when we go to Chicago later this week.

Our friends in MA and our families in Chicago have been keeping us posted on the cold weather. I think that I can certainly settle into the Charlotte weather, as we haven't worn our winter coats yet since we arrived. In fact, the weather has been unseasonably warm, and I had to find the boys shorts so they could play outside last week in the eighty degree weather. The only downside that I have found to the weather is that I had to do some shopping, since most of the clothes that fit me at this stage of my pregnancy are wool, but its a cross that I willingly bear.

We have met a number of our neighbors and are starting to get friendly with the locals. The good weather has helped since everyone is out. I am a little surprised at how many people we've met with ties to Chicago. In fact, a woman that I used to lifeguard with at the University of Illinois lives a few streets over. We were at the neighborhood children's Christmas party and she was talking to my neighbor (both women are pregnant - I've never seen so many round bellies!!) and I was wracking my brain trying to think of why I knew her. I haven't seen her in at least fourteen years, so it was a surprise to both of us to meet again. Small world. I have met a lot of friendly people and am starting to develop some friendships that I think will be good ones. Our neighborhood has a gazillion kids, so the boys are in heaven. We have been riding bikes to the park or with the neighbor kids most afternoons, so we are starting to branch out some. We all miss our friends though. Every time we go for a bike ride Alex asks if we are going to ride to Loretta's house. That would be one long ride little man!!

southern living

Our friends in Massachusetts had a wonderful send-off for us (and our kids) before we left. At that time, my friend Sue suggested that I start a blog to keep our many far-away friends up to speed on our changing lives. While I laughed it off at the time (something about moving 850 miles away the week after Thanksgiving with two little kids while pregnant... a blog seemed tough to maintain), I found myself often thinking of what I would write in my blog (while unpacking boxes or playing with the boys). Clearly there is a huge difference between contemplation of blog-worthy items and the execution of creating the blog, but I have decided to give it my best shot.

So since we last saw you all:
I was sadder than I thought I'd be when we left our lovely home in MA the day before Thanksgiving and went to our vacation house in NH to spend the holiday with some friends. I guess it really hit me that we were leaving our lives and starting anew (something I didn't give thought to when dealing with movers and cleaning the house and taking care of the kids). We had a great Thanksgiving holiday with old and dear friends before we set off for the warmer climate of our new home. In just a few days we travelled across ten states, stayed at 4 different places, moved 18,000 pounds of belongings, and ate more take out than I ever imagined. The boys did great. Seriously. Andy and I were pretty surprised at how good they were through the trip. I think our plan of doing fun things in the morning and driving in the afternoon saved us. After all, they got to go to the aquarium in Baltimore with their Tetka (Aunt Nena), play with their friends Jack and Abbey in Raleigh, and swim at least once per day at the various hotel pools. Does it get any better than that?

Our move was as uneventful as we had hoped; the close went seamlessly, the movers were great, our belongings are all present and in good condition. In the almost three weeks (already!) that we have been in the house we have primed and painted Devin's room (before the move he insisted that the hot-pink room was not his, so we knew that was a change that needed to happen quickly), unpacked and settled all the common areas of the house, met our pediatrician (twice), joined the gym, met my obstetrician, spent hundreds at Target and Lowes and have started meeting new friends. The boys are settling into preschool and are really enjoying themselves. Devin's teachers say that he seems so comfortable there that he is no different than the kids that they have had since September. Alex loves everything about school; his teacher, the activities that they do, his friends (although my fears about him being a preschool bruiser weren't unfounded), and especially eating lunch at school. =) I am enjoying my two kid-free mornings each week, but have been extremely busy acting as Santa's helper and tackling house projects that are best completed without the help of little hands. Andy has been at his new job for two weeks now and is enjoying the new role (although he is still figuring out what that role is). Overall I would say that we are pretty happy here. I am sometimes overwhelmed at the amount of work that we have ahead of us in the house and I don't think I will move at Christmas time again if I can avoid it, but things are going well.
Love to all!

news from 11/4/2007

Our time as Northeasterners is nearly drawing to a close. The movers are coming the week of Thanksgiving to pack and load our things, and we will slowly make the drive down to NC in time to close on our new house on Nov. 26th. We found a great home in an amazing subdivision that sits on the NC - SC border, so we will actually be living in South Carolina. Our house is about 15 miles from 'uptown' Charlotte, where Andy will be working and is close to all the amenities and activities to which the boys and I have become accustomed. We are very excited for our new adventure, but quite sad about leaving our good friends. In fact, Devin has been insisting that his friend from preschool is coming to NC also. =) But I am sure that he and Alex will quickly make new friends in preschool while I am busy trying to settle our house before Christmas.
Among the tasks that I will quickly tackle is picking colors for the kids rooms. Our other exciting news is that baby #3 is a girl, so we will actually be introducing pink into our world! We are thrilled. Andy is nervous about how this will affect his humor and we both realize that we will need to learn a whole new set of toys, but we are really very excited.

news from 9/28/2007

First, we are very excited to report that we are adding to the family again! We are expecting another little Blake in the spring. While many ask if we are hoping for a girl, we both agree that we would need a pretty tough girl to keep up with the likes of our two wild men. We would be truly thrilled for either a girl or a boy baby in our family. However, we fully intend to find out which we are having when the opportunity presents itself, since I am determined not to decorate our next nursery in gender neutral colors... its trucks and trains all the way or pink as pink can be!!
Our other crazy news is that we are relocating to Charlotte, NC. Andy was presented with a wonderful opportunity managing international projects for Wachovia (the parent company of his existing employer). Thankfully since Andy's new boss is based in Europe, this position should not mean a lot of travel for Andy, but it does mean that he needs to be at Wachovia's headquarters in NC. We have been busy preparing our house to list it in the coming week, and will be traveling to Charlotte in two weeks to look for houses. Andy will start his new position in the beginning of December, and we plan to move by the end of the year (if not before his start date). We are all very excited about this great opportunity not only for Andy, but for our growing family (Charlotte is really family focused and the weather is lovely!), but we are also very sad to leave behind our amazing friends (and "chosen family") in Massachusetts. Andy has already mapped out the drive, and Charlotte is a mere 14 hours from Shrewsbury, MA and about 13 hours from Chicago. When it snows during spring break, we welcome all Northerners seeking sunshine!!
We hope that everyone is doing well, and we promise more updates as we have them.
Love to all!
Meaghan

New look, new blog

Hopefully this time I will stay with it!

Our family has some tremendous changes coming up. In the interest of consistency, I am posting a few updates to ensure that any new posts don't catch people off guard. Also, I had been using pseudonyms for the family in previous posts due to a pretty scary article I read about people assuming the identity of certain bloggers. Since I am lucky to get a post in these days I will not be maintaining the pseudonyms going forward. I apologize for the confusion!

mistake

Henry has a cold. Last night he got up around 12:30 am because he lost his binki and he was completely unsettled. Ten minutes later he wanted me to fix his blanket; fifteen minutes later it was the lost bunny. I started to let him cry it out (much to the dismay of my loving husband) until finally I asked the King to give him some night-time medicine to see if we could get him back to sleep. By then the King was quite frustrated with our little prince and was quite stern with him, which just about crushed the little man. Then the King made a horrible mistake, a dreadful horrible mistake. He gave Henry medicine alright, but when I got up with Henry again after another fifteen minutes of crying I realized that the King gave him non-drowsy sudafed... at 1:30 am. So the King and Prince Henry had some quality bonding time last night until about 3:00 am. I was just so glad that my hubby came through in the clutch and took ownership of the medicine mishap. This morning my weary husband told me that in the future I need to medicate the kids at night. Poor guy!

swimming

Swimming makes me so exhausted. Seriously. I used to say that it made me ravenous, but by mid-day I think exhausted is winning out, and I didn't even swim that far today! My knee started bothering me about a month ago and it landed me in physical therapy twice per week. It turns out that I have a leg length discrepancy (who doesn't?) which is causing my hips to shift out of alignment and is straining my hamstring and knee. So I have a gel insert in my right shoe (just like the Dr. Scholls ads - I'm gel-ing) and I am doing loads of exercises to try to strengthen my core, glutes, etc around my hips to keep them in alignment. My cardio is limited to swimming right now and my knee still hurts pretty much whenever I attempt any exercise (including my PT). Needless to say my motivation is lagging. The King teases me that I should be following his regimen of healthy fat and loads of liquor with minimal exercise to stay healthy, since clearly the nutrition plan and the multitude of workouts isn't keeping me healthy. =) I think I'll have to kick his ass!

the boys

I decided that for Lent I am going to try to maintain a positive disposition and try to find more patience for my boys. They are genuinely good kids and they behave pretty well, but they are still kids. Like all kids they get rambunctious and willful at times, and I find that I can have a pretty short fuse for them (especially at the end of the day). Henry (almost 2 years old) can be particularly difficult because he's at the point where he knows what he wants but can't always communicate it... and sometimes he can communicate what he wants but cannot have it and he doesn't understand that ("yes, I understand that you want a pancakes but we are having chicken for dinner tonight). Then he gets angry and throws his food, cup, etc on the floor. Not my favorite stage. And yet, yesterday I was sitting on the floor with William and Henry kept coming up to hug me from behind. Then he crawled in my lap and gave me a big old open mouth sloppy drooly kiss (the kind where you need a napkin to recover). I loved it! So I alternate with being frustrated with him and completely smitten by him. I guess this is what its all about though. William (almost four years old) is proof to me that our kids do listen to us, since he constantly uses our expressions. Its hysterical when I ask him to do something and he says, "no problem" or when he tells Henry he's an eating machine. So fun! Just by the questions William
asks ("Mommy, what animal made those tracks in the snow?) and the stories he tells ("I dreamt that the dinosaurs were driving the race cars and they went so fast!") I see him really flourishing before my eyes. And he can write his name. Officially. For a while he needed help writing it, but now he can do it on his own. I am really proud of my boys and I am truly blessed by these little guys.

February 1st

Thursday is February 1st, and should be my niece Brianna's eleventh birthday. Brianna should be turning eleven. Just thinking of that is enough to make me want to cry. I can't believe its been two years since I last saw her alive. I just don't know how my sister and husband manage. They are amazing people.

the joy of naps

William has decided that naps are "so 2006". I knew this was coming, after all he is three and a half, but I am devastated! I can still get him to "have a rest" for about an hour in his bed before he starts with the constant, "Mommy, is my awake?" (note: need to work on the kid's grammar). Its seriously one of the hardest things for a parent to come to terms with, and I am struggling. After all, if he doesn't nap then I am on the job with the little men from 6:30 in the morning (or 7:00 on a good day) until 7:30 at night. No break. No time to do anything without the help of the boys. Sure I can make phone calls, do laundry, clean the kitchen when they are around, but email is damn near impossible and forget any nap-time workouts (which is particularly brutal since they have been sick and I haven't been making it to the gym). Now Henry is up. Until another day...

happy holidays

I love the holidays. I really do; the only thing better than Christmas is my birthday (although now that I am getting older the birthdays are getting a little less exciting). Unfortunately we were all sick with the stomach flu when Santa came to our house. We all managed to rally that morning and have a great time (after all, what is more exciting than presents!), but the night before was tough for William and I and the night following was horrible for the King. Then we all had vicious colds in time for our trip to Chicago. For a change, we were the people hacking on the plane (much to other passengers dismay, of course). Our time in Chicago was hectic as always, but very fun. The boys really loved their time with the family, and I can really see how they get different enjoyment from each place that we stay (quality time with the grandparents, crazy time with the cousins). Moving around a lot while we are there is tough, but its good for them to see more of the family that way. They were really quite resilient about sleeping different places (Henry even slept in a bed for a couple days!)and we all got over our colds. I managed to contain the damage of not working out for weeks and eating/drinking more than usual. I only gained two pounds on our trip - not too bad considering how far from my normal habits I strayed. We had a really good trip, but we were all thrilled to be home again. Today the King went to work, William went to preschool and Henry and I went to the gym. I love being back in the routine. Happy 2007!

off week

I decided to take a couple days off to let my back recover, and that has turned into almost a week off. Seriously. I think I did yoga once this week. I consciously decided to take the first couple days off for my back, then William got sick. Poor guy. Obviously I really felt bad for him, but I was also bummed that it killed any chance that I had of getting to the gym (or finish any holiday errands). I think he'll be back at school tomorrow and I can go to Pilates. If my back does well, then maybe I can get some good workouts in this weekend (in between the birthday parties and holiday festivities). I'm tired today. I actually just realized that Wills has slept through the night only once this week. Having a sick child is like having an infant. I hope William kicks this soon, and that the rest of us stay healthy...

nutrition plan

A few weeks ago I worked with a great trainer (who is the Yoda of triathlete.com) to complete a fitness assessment and nutrition plan for me. He collected all kinds of info on me (current weight, measurements, current exercise regimen, etc) and gave me some recommendations to get into better shape. I went into this thinking that I was okay with my size but not thrilled with my shape. His recommendation was that I work on losing fat and gaining muscle to bring my body fat percentage down. Sounds easy enough, right? So I have been counting calories, fat, protein and carbs daily. It kind of sucks. It really sucked at first, but we quickly learned that certain recipes provide all of that info (thank you Cooking Light), so I don't have to calculate it myself (where calculating means measuring out each ingredient, looking up the details on that online, adding all the numbers for each ingredient and dividing by the number of servings). I also need maintain my current cardio routine and lift more often; he recommended that I lift pretty heavy weight (where I am reaching fatigue after 8-12 reps). The workouts have been good. I really like lifting, and have been pretty motivated to workout often. I did something to my back last weekend, so I have been taking it a little easier this week... but probably not easy enough, since I am still in pain. I think its because I haven't been consistent about stretching well after my workouts, and this can really mess me up - especially after runs. I am hopeful that with a couple days off and some yoga or pilates I'll be back on track soon. I did pretty well through Thanksgiving; I ate healthy during the day and then I really enjoyed my Thanksgiving dinner. I also enjoyed the leftovers for a couple days, but I think I balanced the rest of my eating pretty well. Christmas should be another story though. We will be staying with family for a week and a half and my mother will inevitably make her usual zillion Christmas cookies. Its like I walk through the door and become a kid again... "cookies for breakfast? Sure!". I just hope I don't undo all the good that I have done thus far.

joys of technology

I was all excited that the website that I use to post my blog actually remembered my login for a change, so I didn't have to log in. Small thing really, but exciting nonetheless. Then I noticed a little blurb about upgrading to a newer version of the service and I went for it. Newer is better, right? So I had to log in to my blog (thereby taking away my brief satisfaction about the remembered password) and then was prompted for a google login. I didn't think I had a google account, so I filled out the form to create an account, and was promptly informed that my email address already existed in their system. Now I clearly need the little service where they email me my password; if I didn't know I had an account then surely I don't know my password. However, there are no links to this service on the page. I click a couple links that I think may take me to something that will let me ask for my password, but all for naught. So I restarted my browser and came back to the home page for the blog service only to have to log in again. Ugh! This time (after providing my password, again) I decide to skip the upgrade and come straight to write a new entry in my blog. Now I forgot what I was planning to write about. So until another day...

we do what we can

We recently attended a Halloween party hosted by the March of Dimes at the Children's Museum. All the little ones were in full costume and a lot of fun was had by all. However, what struck me at this event was that the King and I were the only people there who did not have preemies (and given the size of my kids, I felt like we stood out...). It was a little strange, and I almost felt like I needed to justify our attendance. I explained to one very friendly woman that we support the March of Dimes. I told her that when my niece Brianna was in the NICU for her heart the nurses called her the "big sister" because at 8lbs 5oz she was huge compared to all the preemie babies. I guess seeing all those little ones touched me in some way. And lets face it, the March of Dimes helps kids. They help babies. Why wouldn't we support them? When that same woman got up to speak at the event she started talking about how everyone in the room knew about the struggles and joys, fear, anxiety and hopefully relief that comes with having a preemie and then she mentioned meeting me, a mother who doesn't have a preemie, and she said that we were there because we support children and support organizations that help children. I was a little embarrassed then, but I realized that she was grateful for our support - especially since we weren't in the same situation as all of the other people there. I guess for me, helping any organization that helps kids makes me feel like I am doing something good and positive to honor Brianna. Since I can't bring her back, I guess that will have to do.

why weigh on a sunny day??

We have been busy again. I feel like that is our norm though, and the King and I are periodically taking steps to try to slow our lives down. For instance, we decided not to go to our vacation place this weekend even though a nearby town over is having a big pumpkin festival that the kids would probably love. However, it will be a full house with all the owners (and some guests) there and we know it would be anything but restful. Since we are coming off a week where Devin had (has?) a stomach bug and I have a cold, we need restful. I hope we can stick with it... In other news I am trying to figure out a way to stay motivated and get into better shape before I start tri training again. One would think that I would be in amazing shape since I was training so much, but I was also eating a lot. After my last race I started dieting and lost a couple pounds, but I think that I have found them again. I think I'm just not motivated to constantly watch what I eat. When I reflect on when I lost my baby weight after William was born, I feel like once I made the decision to get healthy I just stuck with it. But then over time I eventually snuck up a few pounds (ironically to the exact weight that I am now). The same thing happened after Henry was born. I decided to lose the baby weight and got down to a good weight pretty easily (I actually got down to the same weight as I was after having William, but was a size smaller. How cool is that?). I'm not saying it wasn't hard work, but I had an easier time doing it for some reason. I think I was in the zone; I was just really focused. Again though, over a few months my weight climbed a few pounds and I am having a really hard time getting them off. I almost feel like my body wants to be that weight - that my "normal" is slightly overweight. Man do I want to change that. Time to get motivated again. BTW - the title of my post is from the Phish song "Weigh". Seemed appropriate.

Miss me again?

Funny how this happens. I can't believe that a month has passed since I last wrote. My loyal readers are probably terribly disappointed (sic). A lot has happened this month. I competed in another tri, William started preschool, the King abandoned me for a week (work travel - a likely story) and I had a birthday. I am officially 30 (again!).
The tri was the 9th of September, and it was really pretty tough. The half mile swim was really flipping cold; I now realize that wetsuits really aren't optional for September races. The bike was a little longer than expected (16 mi) and it had a giant climb that really kicked my butt. There was a 1.5 mile uphill that was so steep that some cyclists were having problems staying upright (you know how you go so slow that you can't balance... yeah like that). The rest of the course was hilly, but more of what I am used to. However, that huge hill just did me in - and we had to do it twice! Then the run was your normal 5k. It was also hilly but again what I am used to since its quite hilly where I live. I was glad to have done it and overall pleased with my results (strong swim, crappy ride, decent run). I think my recent health scares took some focus off of training for my race, so I think that part of me was just glad to be past the race and have the good results (race and health) to celebrate.
Another reason to celebrate is that Wills started pre-school (3 mornings a week). Wooohooo! He likes it, although he still would rather be home than there. He learned something pretty important the first day of school - he learned to pee standing up. Pretty funny... he's all proud of himself. We are finally getting into a pretty good routine with school and its impact on our lives (getting the boys out of the house before 9:00 seemed a pretty daunting task before). All in all things are really good.

benign

benign...benign...benign!!!
I couldn't be more happy! Yoooohoooo!! Clearly that is a huge relief. I know that thyroid cancer is the cancer to get (if you have to get one), but I am still quite glad not to have it. Now I just need to figure out the lung thing. I went for a set of pulmonary function tests last week and am waiting for the results; I think I did alright though. I am still using Albuterol before working out and that seems to be helping. And frankly, given the other health issues that I was potentially facing, a little inhaler before exercising is nothing! That being said, I am competing in another tri on Saturday. I feel like I have lost my focus lately (given the health issues in the family and all - did I mention our ER trip for William's bug bite...?), but I know that I can complete the race. I don't expect to set any records, but I can complete it. I haven't really been enjoying my training as much lately, and am actually looking forward to doing some other things (like hiking and Pilates). I am thinking about doing a 10k in October, but I haven't signed up for anything yet. We'll see. Right now I am just thrilled that the family all seems to be healthy!

and continue...

Since my last post I determined that I really wasn't experiencing tightness in my chest during workouts when I consistently used the Albuterol inhaler prior to working out. While it is exciting to feel good during workouts again, I am a little nervous about needing the inhaler for exercise. It could be worse though. My doc ordered a full set of pulmonary function tests to determine the overall view of how my lungs are performing these days, and she told me I can race next month if I feel up to it and the Albuterol seems to be working. Very cool. The bigger issue is that I am going to meet with an endocrinologist tomorrow about my thyroid. The thyroid ultrasound showed a nodule that my doc thought might need a biopsy so I'm going to the specialist. Little nerve-wracking, but I know that the majority (like 95%) of people who get biopsies do not have malignant nodules. And I'm not really all that special, am I?

health issues continue

After my week off I have been back at it again. I'm glad to be working out, but my lungs are still and issue. I am on a daily inhaled steriod and I am supposed to use an Albuterol inhaler before workouts... if only I could remember to do so. My workouts this week have been tough; my lungs just don't seem to expand as much as they should and I really struggle in the first 5-10 minutes of my workout. Not all that enjoyable, and its even happening when I swim now. Makes me dread swimming, and I love to swim! Its a bummer. I am nervous that this will become my new normal, which would really stink. On top of the lung issues, I am going through some thyroid testing to see if there is a problem there. I have been really tired and napping more lately than I typically would, but I have attributed that to training and kids keeping me up at night. Maybe not, but I guess we will have to wait and see.

Big comeback followed by time off...

I managed to train well for a week or so after my race, but was so flipping busy that I haven't written (sorry). Then I took a week off - a whole week where I did not workout even once. Normally I would be a little uptight about that, but this was all for good reasons. Last Thursday we started filming Trading Spaces - a three day event. We had applied to be on the show last fall with our friends A & J, and we went pretty far through the process, but they chose to go with teams closer to the city for a more urban setting. Then they called us a couple weeks back to see if we were still interested (the network picked them up for a few more shows so they called us back), and two weeks later we were taping the show. Pretty wild. We had a blast. The first day was a lot of setup and filming background info. The next two days were all about working in the room. It was a lot of fun and a lot of work. The day after taping ended (we were exhausted and we had a great new room!) my old friend Ted came to visit. Theo and I became friends when I was sixteen and we were incredibly close. While I haven't seen him in probably eight years, its amazing how the relationship seems to pick up where it left off with good old friends. The next day I went to Chicago for my Grandmother's funeral, which was quite sad. She had been ill for a long time and was deteriorating rapidly, so while we realize she is in a better place, it is never easy to lose someone you love. It was nice to see my family though, despite the reason. Today is the first day that I feel like we are getting back to normal and I actually got a workout in again. I am doing another race next month, so I need to get serious again. I hope that the remainder of this month stays pretty mellow though...

I'm baaack!

don't call it a come back; i've been here for years...

or rather I've been on the sidelines for years... but I'm back! When I got up at 5:30 race-day morning it was pouring. I mean pouring! Thunder, lightening the whole bit... and I started thinking, "Should I really do this? Given my recent health issues and the weather, is this all a sign that I should just skip it this morning?" But then I reminded myself that triathlons are not for the weak! By the time I got to the race site the rain had slowed to a drizzle and things were looking good. I set up my transition area, scouted the entry and exit points, waited in the hour long line for the port-o-let and had time to kiss all my boys before heading to the sand. The weather was perfect - dry, little sunny, mid-seventies. However, the swim was a little tough. I really struggled to find an open place to swim, and I couldn't seem to get into any kind of a rhythm until well into the swim. I didn't really feel like my chest was tight (thanks goodness!) but I really didn't feel smooth either. I was just off. But the bike was good. I think that between the extra time spent on my trainer and the hills around my house, I really made some improvements on the bike. It was great. The run started out tough; I had a pretty solid cramp in my left calf, which hung on until about 8 minutes into the run. I didn't feel like I was moving well; in fact at first the only people I passed on the run were walking. When we went into the trail section of the run, the craziness really began. All the rain from the last couple days, plus all the people in the three waves in front of me made the trail into a pure mud-path. Everyone was mostly just trying to move from one rock to another to avoid the giant mud puddles. I even ran right out of each of my shoes at different points. When I got back on the road, it felt like each foot was an extra five pounds, and the mud was just flying off my feet as I ran. However, I think the trail re-energized me because I started feeling good again. I finished in 1:25:04 - a time with which I am quite happy. I am a little bummed about my swim (clocking my slowest swim in my triathlon history), thrilled about my bike (probably one of my fastest) and overall I am quite proud of my come back!

tomorrow's the big day

So as recently as yesterday I thought I might not race tomorrow. We all had a rough morning on Friday, since Henry was up from 11 - 2am and the Wills got up at 7am. So tired. I went for a run around lunch time (87 degrees and humid) and felt pretty crappy the first five minutes. My chest felt seriously tight; lungs not expanding to full capacity. It got much better, but the beginning of the run really dissapointed me. I really wish I had gotten better rest, but I can't pinpoint that as the thing that I need to get better. Do I need rest? time? meds?... all of the above? At any rate, I decided to swim this morning to see how I felt and to finally decide if I would race tomorrow. I had a really good swim. My chest was still tight at first, but it got better as I went. I swam a 500 in 8 minutes, which is typical for a training swim, and I felt good afterward. I am a little concerned about the race tomorrow, since I haven't done any long workouts since this virus took me down. And during my run yesterday I kept thinking, "I have to start running an hour after I started racing. Can my lungs handle this?". I hate doubting myself. Its tough enough to prepare for my first race in four years, but to struggle with my health on top of it only adds strain and uncertainty. I really want a victorious comeback, but I might have to settle for just doing my best given the situation. After all, there are other races...

4 days til race time

So its four days until my first triathlon in four years and I'm fighting a virus. It started a couple days ago with a sore throat (which resulted in laryngitis) and a chest cold. I went to the doc today and she said that my lungs sound clear, but when she gave me the lung test where you blow into a spirometer I couldn't even move it half way. Clearly my doctor was surprised, since she explained how to complete the test again, and had me try again. My results were the same. Pretty poor lung function for someone who is planning to compete in a race in a couple days. I think I need my lungs for my tri. She put me on a steriod (prednisone) and an albuterol inhaler. She also told me that I need to listen to my body and if I am not healthy enough to race I should skip it. Or if I start and find my lungs aren't doing well I should quit. The latter would be pretty tough for me; I would find it hard to quit once I've started. Actually either skipping or quitting would be hard for me, but I won't race if I'm not better. Its not worth it. I want my first time back to be a good racing experience. So I have a couple days to get healthy. Hopefully rest and the wonders of modern meds will do the trick.

update

Overall our trip to Chicago was good. The boys had a lot of fun with the families and we certainly enjoyed seeing everyone. The only bummer was that the boys were sick. Will had a cold when we got there, and Henry had a high fever and a rash toward the end. That developed into an ugly cold and pink eye for them both... not a lot of fun for us.
On the training front I managed to run quite a bit in Chicago, but only biked once and didn't swim at all. I have been training well again since we got home last week, and I'm feeling pretty good for my race next week. I know that I can complete the race, but I want to do well. For me that means finishing in a time competitive with the times from my previous races. I guess we'll see next week. One good thing is that the King tuned my bike again, and now my bike is shifting like a dream. I had the greatest ride the other day and I have the King to thank for that. I love my hubby.

running hell

We're visiting the families in Chicago and today I got up at 6:00 (thank you William) and the King watched the boys while I went for a run. It was already pretty darn humid, but I was optimistic that I would have a good run, especially since I took the day off yesterday. I had a horrible night's sleep (the King and I have William in our room, and he has a cold...), but I was still optimistic. I made it to the forest preserve and noticed that they have mile markers on the trail. I thought I was coming up to the first mile marker around 9:30, but saw nothing. 10:00, 10:30 still nothing. So I start thinking, "well, this is a bike trail, maybe the mile markers are further apart since people typically ride longer than run." At 11:00 I saw the mile marker. I was dumbfounded. 11 minute miles! That's horrible. I made it a few minutes past the mile marker and came back. I thought my return trip was better, but I did the mile in 11 minutes again. I was seriously bummed. I ran a total of 39 minutes, but clearly very slowly. I think its time to start running intervals again. =(

love the bike... love it!

I went for a ride the other day and had an epiphany... I love the bike! I had not been out on my bike in almost two years and while I've been on the trainer and taking spinning classes for the last couple months, its just not the same. I had a couple issues (forgot my sunglasses and nearly went blind with the dust in the eyes), but just absolutely loved my ride.
I did about 17 miles (where the end was quite hilly) and I have to say riding outside is far more strenuous than any indoor rides. It felt great. I kicked my own ass.

So I snuck a quick swim in today while the boys were at child watch at the gym. I didn't know how long they would last so I hopped in and swam a little more that half a mile. A friend of mine asked what my typical half mile swim time was the other day and I realized that I haven't timed myself for that distance in years. I guessed about 15 min for a training swim (aah the impact of adrenaline when racing) and I was pretty close. I did 40 lengths in 17 min (half mile is 36), so I think 15 min for a half is about right. Not really impressive, but at least I'm consistent. =) It was good to get a workout in and I had a good swim. I think I'm ready to get back into training.

miss me?

Has it really been almost a month since I last posted? I knew we would have a crazy June, but I didn't expect it to start mid-May...
But between the anniversaries (some happy, some sad) in May and getting ready for our trip I should have known better. We did a road race on May 21 in honor of my niece, and it was really a good event. The race benefited Children's Hospital, and it was really nice to be amongst friends that day. I ran pushing the boys, so I really wasn't competitive, and the only real bummer was that my back started bothering me only hours after the race. I took it easy for a couple days and laid off running (but tried to stretch a ton) and things started to seem better, but then we left for vacation on June 1st. We had an amazing trip (just the hubby and I, while the boys stayed home with Grandma - thanks mom!!). Truly amazing. We spent a lot of time reading and relaxing on the beach, playing in the water and eating decadent meals. Aaaah.... the good life. I managed to run a couple times and swam in the ocean once (well, I played in the ocean a lot, but only really swam once), but the training was minimal. Basically I haven't had a good week or training until the week prior to the May 21st road race and now I'm getting a little nervous. I need to get out on my bike. I've rode on the trainer, but haven't been out on the road yet. Yikes! Time to get serious, right? But the King is leaving tomorrow for a business trip (and will be gone most of the week) and my babysitter isn't really available this week. Guess its a good thing my first race is at the end of July, eh?
I wouldn't trade the vacation though. Have I mentioned that it was fabulous?

My husband ROCKS!

For Mother's Day the King and the princes got me a bike trainer. Wooohooo! For the non-triathlete folks, a bike trainer is a device that you hook your road bike into and you can ride indoors like a stationary bike. The cool thing is that its still your bike, so you need to shift gears, etc while riding. Very nice. Since the boys both nap in the afternoon, I am usually able to get some kind of a workout in during the day, but before I couldn't swim, bike or run. Now I can. =) The trainer came with a couple training DVDs and I did one today; it was kind of like taking a spinning class. After the video I just rode for a bit (simulating hills) and watched some tube. Nice.
the King is the bomb!

one down, many to go

My first real week of training went well. I definitely missed a couple workouts because the boys weren't up for it or the King had plans (he's certainly entitled!), but overall I did well. I was actually able to get some exercise in during their naps three times this week, although not any swimming, biking or running. But still, I lifted at home so they didn't have to hang out longer in child care at the gym and I did yoga and pilates. While the yoga and pilates aren't triathlon specific, I really feel like they will help, especially since I have not been great about stretching a lot. Here is how my week went: Monday - off , Tuesday - run/swim , Wednesday - bike/yoga , Thursday - run , Friday - walk/lift , Saturday - swim , Sunday - pilates . Not too shabby. This week is going well so far, but I am starting to feel a little guilty about all the training time with the boys. When I train it means that they are at child care at the gym, with a babysitter or strapped in the stroller. My actual workouts aren't very long, but between Henry's two naps and the amount of time it takes us to get moving in any direction... if I work out with them then we have little time for much else. I think I might have to take a day off just to play with them. But I hate to take a day off going into the weekend, since I like to have that flexibility during the weekend if needed. Hmmm... well I knew it wasn't going to be easy.

Now that's more like it...

So my slow start Monday was followed by two awesome workout days. Tuesday I ran intervals on the treadmill at the gym while the boys went to child-watch (without any major issues). Not thrilled to be back on the treadmill, but it was rainy and cold and I got to run alone... plus intervals are such a good workout. Then Tuesday night I swam 2000 yards at the pool. Another good workout - did a longer set and then some sprints. My quads seized up during cool down, but it wasn't anything that good stretching and the hottub couldn't fix. I was beat after that though. I think it will take some doing for my body to get used to two workouts in a day. Yesterday I did 30 min on the stationary bike at the gym and it was actually really good. The new training book that I'm reading (Time Saving Training for Multisport Athletes) recommended an interval workout for the stationary bike of 1 min hard, 1 min easy and it really rocked. The during the boys naps I did one of the King's yoga tapes. I'm still pretty nervous about the back pain and leg tightness that I was dealing with before, so I hope the stretching will help. That said, I didn't stretch after my run today (outside w/ Henry in the jogger), because I wanted to get to Target before lunch and nap-time and I hopped in the car right after the run. Aaah well... I'll need to do a good stretch before bed tonight.
Now if I can only keep this up through the summer...
=)

Training starts today

I pretty much decided that my training was going to start in earnest today. May first. Start of the month, first day of the week, easy to track on my training log. May first - its official. My plan was to take the boys with me on a quick run - nothing major, since I haven't run with the two of them since the fall. I thought about calling my neighbor to watch them (we trade off watching each other's kids while we run), but decided against it since I am planning to run a 5K in three weeks with them in tow. I need to get a couple runs in pushing the extra +/- 80 pounds before then. So I thought after the afternoon naps we would head out. Seemed simple enough, since our morning was quite normal... but then Henry wasn't falling asleep. He was just playing along happily enough, but he was loud enough to keep William up. Uugghhh!
I put them down around 1:30. William fell asleep around 2:30 and Henry around 3:00 - very late for these boys. I woke William up at 4:15 and he cried and sat in my lap until I woke Henry up at 5:00 and he cried too. At that point there was no run to be had. The last thing I wanted to do was to head out in the stroller and have the two of them bellowing the whole time. So my official training for my big triathlon come-back year started today - with a rest day.

another day

I'm definitely feeling better. After the back-pain and good food of the previous week, I really had a good workout week and I ate reasonably well. I ran a couple times without back pain, did yoga, swam before William's swim lessons (which were awesome! He's not yet three and a total fish!) and managed to squeeze in spinning and lifting. Not hard-core training, but not too shabby either. And here's the kicker - I got on the scale at the gym expecting to see punishment for my week of debauchery, and I actually lost a couple pounds. I have to hope that happened because I have been working out a lot and not something else... but still. Yoohoo!

We went up to our vacation home in NH yesterday to get settled in (we bought into the house with some friends), and it was a tough night for the boys. Henry did okay (better than last time we were away from home) and William really struggled. Will's at the age where he's starting to get scared about things, especially at night, and the different sounds (the heat kicking on, etc) nearly sent him over the edge. Needless to say we are all tired, and we missed out on the one form of exercise that we had planned for the day. We were going to do a 1.5 mile easy hike with the boys (the King carrying Henry in the back pack and William walking with me), but we couldn't find the trail head and Will was starting to lose steam, so instead we went for lunch. Its tough trying to squeeze things in between Henry's morning and afternoon naps. I will be glad when he goes down to one. Anyway, I had thought about lifting tonight after we got the boys in bed, but I'm totally bushed. It will have to happen tomorrow...

April 24

I have a cold. Its April 24th and I have a cold. Seems pretty unfair, right? Not sure where it came from since both the kids are healthy. Maybe just fatigue...
We have been non-stop crazy since before Easter with the King's family in town, Easter, Henry's birthday and friends' birthdays. All good things, but seriously busy. Plus I ran a bunch last week and my back was bothering me (I think because I didn't stretch afterward). I think I have that under control now though. I have been stretching and I even did one of the King's yoga tapes, which I really liked. I need to get it together though. Too many decadent meals and too much birthday cake hasn't helped. Now I feel like I need to get back into my routine, but my cold has slowed me down.
This doesn't bode well though, since we have a really crazy summer planned already... but I'll rally. I'm usually pretty adaptable to all the craziness and getting my training in. I just need to stay healthy. I have been reading the training book about training more efficiently and it seems like it can help. The challenge is that their training plans still call for 9 workouts per week, although many are shorter. I'll figure it out though. I want to get through the book and come up with a training plan to kick off next week. I have a 5k planned for May 21st and my first tri will be late July, so I think that will give me plenty of time. I am running 3-4 miles regularly now and swimming over a mile each workout, so I just need to get on the bike... once the King tunes it for me. Until then I've been to spinning class a couple times, but its just not the same! Anyway, I feel pretty good about where I am starting from for my training. I can do this.

btw - three days after Henry turned a year he started walking. Pretty wild. Its almost like he decided that the time had come - he was one year old and he had to walk. Its all too cool though.

I love my techno-geek

so we finally have a new laptop. I was hesitant at first to spend the money (I am realizing that I have become a bit of a miser since I stopped working), but our old laptop got to the point where it would close on our hands about every five minutes. pretty frustrating. especially since we use the laptop for hours each day...
the King did all the research and got a good deal and now we have a slick new laptop. Yaaahhhooooooeeeeeeeeey!! This rocks!

we had a fun Easter and a nice visit with the royal in-laws, but I am glad to be back to normal. I think I have about five pounds to lose from all the amazing meals and I am seriously aching to work out. I like my normal.

race plans

So the King and I talked about my races for the summer and he raised some really valid concerns about my training plans. When I first got into triathlons I worked out and kept a training log and followed a plan, but I was pretty laissez faire as well. I didn't really drink because it was hard to train the next day, but I took time off to hang out and do things too. My last year of racing I set my sights on a longer race (olympic - which was longer for me!) and I think that scared me into becoming a bit of a freak about training. I was getting pretty obsessive about training and I would stress out about missing workouts and skip off days until I finally was just wiped out and cranky. Needless to say he doesn't want that to happen again and is worried about the impact of juggling training and two little kids will have on all of us.
But I don't want it to happen again either; so we have reached a compromise. We are both planning to do a 5k road race to benefit Children's Hospital at the end of May. Then I will sign up for a sprint tri in July and after we see how things are going possibly more in August/early Sept. I am only planning to do sprints this year, since I want to ensure that I can handle the distance and the training required (I know I can handle the swim in an Oly and probably the bike, but the run kills me).
I think the King is happy with this approach and I know that I am. I don't want to be crazy workout lady again, but I like working towards goals. Goals are good.

need to relax - seriously

The new year brought for me the realization that my youngest was almost a year old and therefore my excuse for being out of shape was quickly diminishing. So Andy and I got serious about getting in shape - through dieting and working out more. And it is working (diet and exercise - who knew?). I have reached my pre-pregnancy weight but am a few pounds up from my goal weight and I fit in to the clothes that I wanted to fit into, and actually have needed to buy some new stuff because I'm smaller than I've been in a while. I am really glad about this (actually its pretty huge for someone who has always struggled with weight), but the last few days I have been feeling pretty bad about my appearance and diet again. Maybe its because I have basically stopped dieting even though I have a few pounds to go, or maybe its because I haven't worked out the last couple days. Or maybe I'm starting to get nervous about training (and having the time to train). I don't know. And I know that a couple days off from training and a couple days of over-indulgence won't ruin everything, but I wish the two didn't happen in synch. I could justify the elaborate meal that Andy and I will have on our date night tonight if I knew I put some miles in today... but I need to relax.
I think that part of the problem is that I am better when I have a plan, which is not to say that I am so rigid that I need to plan out every minute thing, but I need a general training plan and some races to shoot for to feel like I am working towards something. I have earmarked a few races, but haven't signed up fir anything because we have some family things to sort out (planning birthday parties and vacations...). And I haven't committed to a training plan yet because the ones I have found have either been too easy to too time consuming. I need a training plan that is challenging in intensity but doesn't require the 9-12 workouts per week that my former plan followed. I ordered a book from Amazon (Time Saving Training for Multisport Athletes) that my fellow triathletes recommended, and I hope that this book will help me modify the training plan I used previously to meet my time limitations. I think that if I get the training plan sorted out and the races decided upon then I will be more focused, and the eating thing will hopefully fall into line as well. Here's to hoping!

feeling slug-like

So yesterday I had a kisk-ass workout day. I got on a bike for the first time in years (granted for a spinning class, but it was a good workout and a good re-introduction to the term "saddle sore"). After spinning class I lifted. I have been following the advise of a great trainer who answers all kinds of questions on triathlete.com's forum for my lifting workouts. He has recommended certain exercises, but also suggested that triathletes need only to do one set of 12-15 reps for each exercise, as long as the weight is heavy enough that your muscles fatigue by that 12-15th rep. He said that this strategy builds muscle without bulk. Rock on! It has totally changed the way I lift and I can get through a lifting workout quite quickly. Yesterday I really pushed myself and I felt like a total stud.

Today however I was sore. I have done little more than take an hour long leisurely stroll with the boys. And I have eaten a lot - mostly in the evening. I am feeling really full and sluggish right now. Like all my hard work from yesterday was erased by today. :-(

Aaaaahh well... tomorrow is another day.

motivation

Last week someone posted a message on the forum at triathlete.com asking folks to describe their motivation, Its a pretty tricky question. I can tell you that four years ago when I was training for my first Olympic distance race (1 mi swim, 25 mi bike, 6 mi run) my motivation was to train a lot and prove to myself that I could complete and compete in a race that challenging. Pretty simple motivation, but it got me out of bed to go to the gym (or on the bike, or to the track) and kept me from drinking all summer long.
But now I'm not sure what my motivation is. A comeback? I guess, but I don't anticipate I'll be competing t the same level since I don't anticipate training as much. Its kind of funny for me to talk about competing at the same level, since I've always been a mid-packer, but I am one of those people who likes to measure progress. I may finish 50th in a race, but as long as my times have improved (and I haven't come in dead last, of course) then I am pretty happy with the result. So what is my motivation when my expectation is that my times won't improve at all? I guess to see how close I can get with the amount of training that I can do. And to get in better shape, of course. I wish getting in better shape was my only motivation, but I am a competitor by nature, even if I'm only competing with my past.