Jersey Beach Mama

Florida Surprise!

2012-01-23T17:34:00.002-05:00

So, my mom, me and the kids flew down to Florida on Saturday to SURPRISE my grandparents. My grandpop turned 80 this month and they have been married 59 years this weekend. So what better way to celebrate than risk a heart attack.

The weather is amazing! We've swam in the pool and gone to the beach. And enjoyed the company of my wonderful grandparents.

We coordinated our visit for when 2 of my cousins were going down. So we knew my grandparents had no plans. They came down last night....with a huge boo boo. They accidentally booked thier flight for Ft. Lauderdale instead of Ft. Myers. LOL! Luckily they rented a car and my grandparents didn't have to drive for 6 hours yesterday to get them while we were here. Although, they didn't know we were coming.

Anyway, we got here and my grandpa was pulling out the driveway, so we blocked his road and just started waving. He said he was thinking "Who the hell is this crazy bitch?" haha! Little did he know. They were completely shocked. So FUN!

And the surprises aren't over yet!

My Aunt, her boyfriend and another cousin came down today on the auto train. We are now at my grandparents waiting for Pop to come back from Target for the next surprise!! heehee.

And tomorrow night, we are taking them out for dinner with my grandparent niece (who lives nearby) and her husband and daughter. I have just been bursting with excitement for WEEKS!

Just hoping for NO heart attacks!!! oxoxox

420 Months

2012-01-18T10:44:00.002-05:00

So I have figured out that when I post from my phone it does not give me paragraphs, like I intended. Just long run on sentences. Plus the links I posted didn't come up as links. Sorry. I guess you'll have to cut and paste, just this time. Of course it had to be a most serious subject. Here is Beth's latest post. My heart is still broken for all involved. Please be safe out there my runner and biker friends.

Then I had to figure out why I couldn't see everything in blogger on my dinosaur computer....enter Google Chrome. Apparently I missed the day when google announced that if you don't get chrome, you don't get to play with the good stuff anymore. I guess that explains why my gmail was so wonky. ugh.

Now I guess I have to post from the computer. Which should be good. Maybe you'll get some pictures. But, you'll probably still get a few crazy paragraph posts from my phone while I am out an about.

Here are my boys from July '11.

See. I told you they are getting way too big!

My 35th birthday is today. I've been getting birthday love all morning on text messages, facebook, emails. I love technology! I'll be going for a nice easy 3.5 mile run today. After my 7.26 (what!?) mile run on Sunday, this will be cake. mmmm cake. Then, I'll be heading over my very favorite nail salon to get a pedicure. They also give awesome massages while you are waiting to dry. Can't wait! Tonight, I'll be having dinner with Hubby, the kids, my mom, step-dad, my dad, step-mom and my grandpa. Fun!

This should be a fantastic year. 35 is my Hubby's favorite number. It's his badge number. It's what he bases everything on. If he has to cook something in the microwave for 30 seconds, he does it for 35. If a bill is $120, he rounds it up to $135. Seriously, he's a bit crazy. But, that's ok. Hoping this is his year too and he gets the promotion this week he's been working SO hard for. *crossing fingers!*

Now off to fill my day!

What a difference a night makes

2012-01-13T15:02:00.000-05:00

Something I've been thinking about since the weekend. A woman, a mom, went for a run at 6:30am on a route that she knew, and has been missing since then. I am so sad for her, for her family, her friends, her community. She is a teacher, so sshe has touched many lives. I have seen news about her on blogs, Facebook and even my local news in NJ. She is from Montana. The above is what I wrote last night with the intentions of linking you to Caroline, who made up a bib to wear for the safe return of Sherry. http://journeytoahalfmaraton.blogspot.com/2012/01/for-sherry-arnold.htmlThis morning Beth posted the most horrible news. http://www.shutupandrun.net/2012/01/saddest-day.html?m=1I am heartbroken. For Beth, the rest of Sherry's family, her friends, her community. It has left a hole in the running community. Especially among runners that are moms. How do we go out and do what makes us feel our best, be our best, with this fear during every run. Just because this happened out in Montana, far far away from NJ, there are crazy, sick people everywhere.Please be safe.

squeezing it in.

2012-01-08T17:34:00.001-05:00

So I did it. I did end up getting out for that run. I had my 1 year old niece, like I watch every Thurs., and her and my little one fell asleep in the car. I decided to hurry and get dressed, to run. I parked at the local track and ran 800's (that's 2 laps). I got in 3 of them in about 13 min (1.5 miles) before I had to go pick up the Kid from school. Talk about squeezing in a run!Then, today I went to this local reservoir that is 5 rolling miles around. I've done it so many times. It's a beautiful run and my dad actually lives across the street. I met up with my tri group and brought along my BRF (best running friend). We even did an extra mile! So a total of 6 today and I feel great. We even saw a Bald Eagle in its nest squalking away, loud! They have babies there every spring. I see them often, but each time is still so cool.I've only signed up for 1 big race so far in 2012. The NJ Half Marathon! 17 weeks to go!! Then 12 weeks after that is the Jersey Girl Triathlon. My goal for 2012 is to do 1 race a month, or 12 total. I pretty much know what I'm doing each month, but I have no ideas for Aug yet.Another goal is to lose this pesky 20 pounds so I can drop some time off my races....as I say this I am getting a beer. Hey, what? I ran 6 miles today. Don't judge me. Lol.

just call it a comeback?

2012-01-05T09:47:00.004-05:00

Wow. 2 posts in a week. I'm sure I have no readers anymore....but I'm trying to make a bloggy comeback. This last year I have started reading so many inspirational blogs. SwimBikeMom, Run Like A Mother, Canadian Runner in Exile, See Mom Run Far, Shut Up and Run, Racing it Off, just to name a few. I think they are on my blog roll on the side of my page. I think I have more that I need to update. I have to look through my reader again. They make me laugh, they make me cry, they make me feel like I can still get off my ass and workout no matter what kind of day I'm having. They keep me inspired. I am hoping I can inspire someone else. I think there is so many moms like me who struggle with weight and found a love of running and just want to support each other.
My posts my not be the best, and I will probably will have typos. I stopped blogging because once I got my smarty pants phone I was hardly on my regular computer. Now I will be blogging when I am thinking about it, from my phone.. I tried to post a picture, I can't figure it out....I'll keep trying.
Working on my goals for 2012. I did register for my 2nd half marathon in May. Running so far, its been 'eh'. It's the 5th day and I haven't run since Dec 31. Too many excuses. It's too cold. I hurt my lower back (ok, that's a real one). I'm too tired. My husband is working. The kid has after school today. I have to babysit my (1 yr old) niece. All excuses. It's up to 30 degrees this morning (yesterday was 15!) So I am going to get out for a run today! Hubby is home, so that helps.
Til next time!

recap of 2011

2012-01-02T21:24:00.003-05:00

So, my last post was April 22. Sorry. I'm still here. I had a fun 2011. My big guy turned 7 and started 2nd grade (what?) My baby turned 3 and began nursery school. I keep telling them to stop growing, but they just don't listen!

I didn't do too well with that beautiful 30 lbs that I lost in 2010, I think 15-20 found its way back onto my thighs and ass...but I kept running all year. This is the longest I have been consistently running since HS. This Feb will be 2 year! Seriously. No end in sight.

My feet saw 462.59 miles fly by. So proud of that. I was in Tall Mom's 1000 mile challenge, but I got plantar faciitis over the summer when I was training for my 1st marathon....well, let me start in January.
I ran 71 miles in Jan. Crazy!!!! Most I've probably ran in a year since I graduated college. I was training for my 1st half marathon. I did 10 races.
I did the Mardi Gras Half in New Orleans Feb 13th. Fantastic experience! Ran 2:27. Thrilled with that.
Race #2 was a local 2 mile beach run in NJ. About 1/4 mile is run ON the beach. Great after party too! Do it every year in Feb. In April my girlfriends and I did a marathon relay. It goes from Seaside to Asbury Park. Our team was "Pain Now, Wine Later". So fun!!
Race #4 meant a lot to me and my husband. It was the Father's Day 5k race in June that was dedicated to our friend who passed away in 2010 from melanoma. I did 32:33, my goal was sub 30. I was disappointed with my time, but it ended up being a very hot day and I didn't do well with the heat. I was SO proud of my big guy. It was a month before he turned 7 and ran the 1mile race in 9:03!!! And he fell near the end and popped back up to finish. It could have been 8:xx something! My little speed demon.
Race #5 was my Jersey Girl sprint triathlon in Aug. Again, a bit disappointed. I didn't train like I did in 2010. Plus I am still riding on a hybrid bike...that I forgot to pump the tires. Duh. It took about 15 min longer to bike and it was hard.
Race #6 was a super hard trail 5k. It's one of the hardest HS cross country courses in NJ. I ran 35:44. The first time I RAM that course in 2005 I did it in 45+ minutes. Such a wonderful all women race that supports women's shelters that are victims of domestic violence.
Next up, race #7- my 2nd time running my local town 10k. It sucked. I think the weight was creeping back on. It ran it in 1:05 in 2010, and I ran 1:15 this year. It is a really hilly race and I know I should be proud that I beat 8 (eight!? What?) Other people...but I was bummed I did so crappy from last year.
Race #8, I headed down to Washington DC to run the Marine Corp 10k Oct 30th. Remember eager I mentioned my plantar faciitis? Well, I was training for the Marine Corp Marathon. I was supposed to do it with my husband and 3 girlfriends, but I got it over the summer after the June 5k, my first run was the tri, and I pretty much did nothing in Aug. It really was a fantastic weekend, and I really should do a recap....we'll see.
After getting new orthotics from my podiatrist over the summer, my foot has been all good. A week after the DC 10k I ran race #9 a 5 miler in Nov. Another all women race and the race medal is a flip flop pendant on a silver chain. Love it!! I did 54:53...last year was sub 50, so I know the lbs are affecting my running.
My 10th race of the year was my best! I did a Jingle Bell run in Dec. Last year I ran my best 5k time at 30:44....this year, all dressed up in my red sparkle skirt I ran 30:32!!! So thrilled!! And that was with my brand new Garmin I bought myself for Christmas.

Well, that's it for 2011. I'm still moving, and that's most important. I am already signed up for a half marathon in may....but my goals for 2012 will come up in my next post....soon!

Mardi Gras Race Recap

2011-04-22T19:45:00.000-04:00

Ok. So its been way too long. I almost felt like I couldn't post this. But I am. My pictures are still in my phone or in my friend's cameras. But here it is. My first half marathon recap. The end makes me laugh. Those were my feeling just after I got home, and now I am signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon in Oct.

The race was Loooooong!! I was doing fantastic for the first 10ish miles. I felt great, I was doing about a 10:30 min/mile and thought if i can do this the whole way it' be easy. Well, when I hit the 10 mile marker, I thought... All I have left is a 5k. I've done so many 5k's. I can do this, no problem. That thought lasted about another half mile or so and then my legs turned into lead. At mile 11 I thought I needed to walk a little, so I started to and it hurt more to walk that jog, so I jogged again, at this point I was probably doing 12 min/miles and it was painful. But I got through it, and when I saw mile 13, I literally started crying. Like real tears going down my face. I am choking up writing this, I started crying last night when I was telling Joe about it. I had no idea I would have been SO emotional. I was physically and emotionally exhausted. When I finished, I cryed again. I got my medal, got my picture taken, picked up my water and snacks and found a spot to sit and wait for KC and the other girls to find me and I sat and cried again. For the next half hour or so I went through waves of wanting to throw up and feeling like I was going to pass out. I didn't do either, but I got up and walked and drank my water. Felt better and went and got my medal engraved.
I will do it again. Not anytime soon (maybe the fall). It was amazing.

Breathe

2011-02-24T13:10:00.002-05:00

I need this necklace. I need to breathe. I am freaking out a little about this marathon. I know it's a long way away, but I have a map that I had picked up from the expo in New Orleans. I keep counting the miles. There are a LOT!

But I can do it. I can breathe.

If you would like a chance at getting this necklace, head over to Amanda's blog and leave a couple posts for a few chances to win. I just got another chance! :)

I think I have officially gone insane

2011-02-24T08:57:00.004-05:00

So Hubby signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon yesterday. He has been thinking about this for about a year, even more after his friend, Kevin, passed away last June. Because, you see, Kevin ran the MCM in Nov '09... and then Melanoma took him in June '10... and he ran it around 3:30. He was an amazing runner. So Hubby wants to run in his footsteps and honor him this way.

I texted a friend of mine (KC -that I did the Half in NOLA with) and she decided to do it too. We were playing with the idea of another Rock & Roll in San Antonio or Vegas (them doing the full and me doing the half) but when she priced airfare, it was a little too expensive. So plans changed and 2 of my friends also signed up for the MCM. I was faced with a couple little 'runner bullies' (said in love) texting me that the 10k isn't a challenge, if I miss the sign up I may regret it (it's already 90% full as of 9am this morning), I don't want to be standing there watching. Anyway. They got to me. Hubby told me to do what ever I want to do, and I signed up.

For a Marathon.

I think I need my head examined.

But it will be all 4 of us doing our first marathon. It will be a great time. It will be an amazing experience to share. I felt a little out of the loop when I did my first half and my other 3 friends were each doing their second half. I am excited to do this all together. It will take a lot of training and Hubby and I are going to need to juggle the kids. I like to run in the morning and he likes to run at night, so we have that going for us. i just feel bad for him, because he will be the one missing the 'kid time' since he works. But he works 5 on and 5 off, so he is around more often than a M-F type worker. We are also very lucky to have lots of grandma love living really close (and in the summer the kid's great-grandma that lives WITH us!) The baby will be in nursery school 2 mornings a week in Sept, so I will have that time to use in training for 2 months. Perfect for when the runs are longer. My friend KC also has 2 little kids at home like me. She is a teacher (so she does have off all summer). But, she is divorced. She is lucky to have her mom living with them to be her support while she trains. I think starting running was one of the best things that ever happened to her. And it has connected our friendship. We are thinking about starting a blog about getting through marathon training as moms. I will keep you updated if that gets done. :)

I think I have officially gone insane. When did I become one of those runner people??

I know I haven't posted my half recap, and I WILL. Promise. It is sitting in my draft posts, done, but waiting for some pictures to be added.

Recaps are coming....

2011-02-17T10:09:00.002-05:00

I am still here. I survived my first half marathon.

I am working on my race weekend recap and the actual race recap in 2 separate posts. I also want to add pictures, so I have to figure out how to move the pictures from my phone (without emailing each separate one) and how to 'borrow' official race pictures from the web site. I will be buying them (of course I am spending the $15 for a picture, you wouldn't?) but they won't be here by the end of the week. If you are so inclined - since I don't have photo shop and don't know how to blur out my name or race number you can search me at the Rock and Roll Mardi Gras #17541 ... But you have to do the googling. Check out the awesomeness that is my finish picture. Seriously, I love my legs in that picture. I will never run in shorts that ride up between my legs again. Skirts all the way!

Test post

2011-02-10T12:38:00.002-05:00

I am testing sending a blog post from my phone.

The Countdown is on to 13.1

2011-02-10T09:02:00.004-05:00

A little anxiety is starting to set in. I am leaving for the airport around 4:30 tomorrow (Fri) afternoon and heading to the big easy. This is the longest I have been away from my kids in over 6.5 years! I've only done one night at a time, maybe 6 times. That's once a year people! I am not worried the house will implode or the kids will be dressed in pjs all day or they will just eat pasta and pizza all weekend. -That will all probably happen, but I know they will be safe. Hubby is a fantastic Daddy. The Kid is thrilled to have a 'guys weekend'. When I asked him if he'll miss me, he said NO! (ouch!)

We will arrive late Friday night and on Sat I guess we will walk around the city, go to the expo to pick up our race numbers and packets, try not to drink too much. ;) And the big race is Sunday morning! Early Sun morning. 7AM! We'll be home on Monday night.

13.1

Last summer I was freaking out to run a 10k, which still is my longest 'race' to date. My longest run was a week and a half ago. KC and I went 10.5 miles. Last Sunday we did 8.5. Now, I feel like if I don't do at least 3 miles, I didn't really get a good run in. A year ago, 3 miles was my max run. The other day I decided to see if I could break 30 min on the treadmill 5k program. I did 30:48. So close...but still under 10 min/miles. My goal for Sunday is to be under 2:30... realistically, I think I can do under 2:20... But I will be just thrilled if I can finish without walking. There is a tracking program, but it costs money. If you are on my fb you will know how I did pretty quick. I bought a race belt (Nathan Shadow Pak) to keep my phone and some money on me for after the race. You never know when we'll end up back at the hotel. :)

Debating if I can get a run in today. I have cookies to bake and Valentine's to buy for The Kid's Valentine's Day party tomorrow. I need to go through my clothes and try to pack it all in a carry-on, damn airline charges for checked bags. (side note: I LOVE JetBlue-they do NOT charge, they also do not fly from EWR to NOLA)

Tomorrow Hubby should be home. He has been working almost around the clock the last 4 days on a big case. So I can get my pedicure (hello! Flip flops will be worn when it's over 50*) and last minute packing and running around, and maybe I can get an outside run in (before the pedi.)

I got a new Droid Incredible last week, and while I am still learning how to use it, I am going to try to post from NEW ORLEANS this weekend. Maybe some fun pictures...if I can figure it out.

See you next on Bourbon Street!

Awesome giveaway just a link away!

2011-01-21T08:44:00.003-05:00

My friend posted this on fb this morning. What a fun running mommy blog... and what a fantastic giveaway. Seriously, these pants look amazing. And with spring still quite a ways away I could use these pants!
Go check out Racing It Off and the GoLite giveaway she's got going on. :)

34

2011-01-18T10:00:00.000-05:00

So today is my birthday. I am 34.

I am not in the best shape of my life. I am getting there. But once, a lifetime ago before kids, I went to the police academy in 1999. That? Was the best shape of my life. But, I felt weak. I was 140lbs with a 28 inch waist. I didn't even have enough room around my belt to fit all the bat-gear that a police officer needs. I had to buy a small handheld flashlight to keep in my pocket since I couldn't carry the large maglight that was issued to me. I couldn't carry my PR-24 (night stick kinda think, for those that aren't in the know)... thank goodness I worked in a small shore town that really didn't need it. I never unholstered my weapon (ie. gun) and I only made 2 arrests all summer. Not too shabby.

But back to feeling weak... I was in college. I played field hockey and ran track. I was 22. Yet, I was usually in the back of the pack on our runs. I did a mere 7 push ups in 2 min at the first PT exam and only 22 at the last. I never did a pull up. I did good in the academics and firearms, but I felt weak in PT. Weird, since now I feel so strong. Maybe because I have had 2 children since then and I know what my body can really do. Maybe because *I* am in control of my workouts and someone else isn't dictating what I have to do that day. Maybe because I have a great network of women and moms that are in the same boat. Maybe because KC is just awesome and she lives 5 min from my house and we can run together often, so I have a buddy and a world of support. I don't know. But I do know I am about 30 pounds heavier than I was when I graduated the police academy and I couldn't be happier.

Happy Birthday to me.... and with my 'new' active lifestyle many many more to come. :)

Happy New Year 2011

2011-01-17T10:11:00.002-05:00

I am getting really sick of this snow. We didn't just get a dusting. We got dumped the motherload of snow. More than most people see in a lifetime. We got over 3 feet....the first storm the day after Christmas. Then Mother Nature decided that the rain we got and melted some of it wasn't a good idea, so we got another 4-6 inches. ugh.

Last Feb, when I re-started this running/weight loss journey (not the first time, obviously) I joined a gym and spent many, many days on the treadmill. Seeing people run on days there was snow everywhere and temps well into the teens was CA-RAZY to me. Fast forward one year later and about 30 pounds lighter and I am one of the crazy ones. My good friend (and favorite running buddy- we'll call her KC) motivated me to get a 10 miler done last Saturday. It took about an hour and 45 min, but we did it. It was cold. There was snow covering the boardwalk (so it was like trail running. lol). But I did it!! Outside. I am one of the crazy ones now.

4 weeks from today I will be a half-marathoner. In May I am considering an olympic distance triathon. I am loving this new totally active lifestyle. I am still floating around 175ish...so I am not 'skinny' runner body by any means. But I get out there. One foot in front of the other. It's the best I can do.

Until this snow melts (maybe March?? ugh) I will still get out there and I can't WAIT to get back on my bike!

I have taken a challenge for 2011.... On Tall Mom's site (on side blogroll), she has a challenge of 1000++ miles in 2011. So far I am up to 36+ miles.

I have my tentative schedule of races to do this year. Most are repeats of last year. I love doing local races. And I love to see when I can beat my own time from the year before.

Do you have your races scheduled yet?

2010 Running Recap

2010-12-15T19:50:00.004-05:00

So I made a list of what I have accomplished in 2010.

I did one 2 miler last Feb in 25 min. I will crush that in 2011! It will be 6 days after my 1/2 marathon in NEW ORLEANS!! Whoo Hooo!

I did five 5k's.
March- 33:44
June- 31:59
Sept- 33:37 (one of the hilliest *it is so a word* races in the state! I was thrilled with that time, since last time I did that race 3 years ago I was over 40 min!)
Oct- 30:53
Nov- 30:44 *goal for 2011 - break 30 minutes!!

Then I also did two 5 milers.
July- 52:52
Nov- 49:29 *met my 2011 goal of breaking 50 already! now I will just work on getting faster.
I might do another 5 miler the day after Christmas, but I will decide that day.

I also did one 10k in Sept in 1:05 !! *goal is to break an hour in 2011.

And of course my triathlon in August in 1:24:55 (with a 300 yd swim, 10.5mile bike, 3 mile run)
*I will be doing the same race this year and I will cut that time a LOT! Now that I know what to do in transition, I am sure I will cut that time. I am also considering doing an Olympic distance in May 2011....we'll see.

I can't believe my progress. I am so happy with this year.

I am in full on 1/2 marathon training. I did 5.4 miles yesterday in the bitter cold with a good friend. It was my first frigid run since I was on the indoor track team in HS. It was exhilarating. I really felt great. This weekend I am going to get in a run over 6 miles.

I have officially turned into a runner. And I love it. I read a great book a couple weeks ago "Run Like A Mother" It has some fun stories (like where DO you 'go' when you are running a marathon) and fantastic suggestions for clothes to wear and places to go. They also have a great facebook page that they authors really monitor and answer questions. The theme of the site is that we are all moms. We all run. We have to juggle life and make room for what is important in our lives and the sanity of mom is #1. 'If mama ain't happy, no one is happy.' One of my favorite quotes I found online is:

"If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run."

It keeps me moving. I hope you are moving too. I know my New Years resolution will not be 'to join a gym' because I am already a member and have been going strong for almost a year!

What keeps you moving?

2010-10-22T17:51:00.002-04:00

School has started. Vacation has passed. Races have been run. Want to update you on what I've been up to.

I ran my 10K last month. It was a beautiful day and the longest race I have ever done (6.2+miles - I mapped it on 2 different sites and drove it and it was a bit longer than 6.2)
My goal was to do it in under an hour & 15 min... My time was 1:05 ! It was a great feeling.

We went to Florida in Sept for Hubby's work convention. We stayed at Universal and had so much fun. Pool. Harry Potter World. Family getting sick. Well, that part wasn't fun at all. First is was the Baby, then Hubby and then on the way home, it was the Kid...I was very lucky not to catch it at all.

Tiger Cub Scouts started and has been doing great. I am the Den Mom and have 10 boys.

I have started to work out at a track with a group. The coach is a dad from the Kid's school. It's been fantastic to look forward to that each weekend. I have been kinda lazy the rest of the week. I have a breast cancer 5K tomorrow and I know it will be a slap in the face on how much I haven't done in the last 2 weeks. I have a 5 miler in November that I need to get in gear for. And a few more races in Dec, Jan and the big half marathon in Feb. It's going to come up very very fast.

Triathlon Update

2010-08-22T11:02:00.006-04:00

I DID IT!! My goal for my first triathlon was to get it done in under an hour and a half. My time was 1 hour, 24 min, 55 sec. Or 1:24:55. It was the best experience ever.

I got out of bed at 4:30 to get dressed and all my last minute stuff together in the car, while Hubby got up and took his shower. Of course the Baby woke up about 20 min too early and backed us up a little. The Kid had to be pulled out of bed (this kid sleeps like a rock) at 5am and on the road to the transition area we went.

We pulled up just as the sun was coming over the horizon. It was beautiful. Hubby dropped me off with my gear and he went with the kids to find a parking spot.

I found my bike rack and set up my area. I got my arm marked with my number and put on my timing chip around my ankle, which ended up being the only thing that bothered me after I worried about so many other thinks to bother me...more on that in the run part.

There were 861+ women on the beach waiting to start (there were some that didn't finish). We lined up on the beach with our age groups to get ready to go in the ocean. The day of this race was one of the worst of the summer. It was high tide and the waves were crashing on shore. There were 20+ lifeguards in boats, kayaks and swimming in the water. There were also 40+ 'swim angels'. These were wonderful volunteers who were not participating in the race. They were a savior for so many women, even me.

The first 2 waves went into the ocean and I watched about 10 women get rocked back onto the shore by the waves before they could even get started. Have I mentioned that the waves were rough? There was also a tropical storm out to sea that I didn't know about until after the race, thank goodness.

Then it was my turn. There were 93 women ages 30-34 lined up along the beach with green swim caps ready to go. I was able to get into the water with no real problems. I did a nice swim out to the buoy and around it to return back to the shore. As I was standing up to get out of the ocean I went to grab the hand of a woman (swim angel) yelling at me to get out...I didn't know why until a wave rocked me from behind. I didn't even see it coming. I grew up at the Jersey Shore and I can't remember the last time I got hit by a wave so hard. I started my watch before we went in and I was out of the 300 yard swim in about 7 minutes. My official time when I got off the beach and into the transition area was 8:14. I was ranked 451 in the swim.

My transition was great...since I have nothing to compare it to. hahaha. I took off my tri top (I had a sports bra underneath) and changed into my running top that had my race number already pinned to it. I had to get the sand off my feet. It was really tough to use my baby powder while there was water dripping down my legs from my tri shorts. It took much longer than I thought to get my running sneakers on. I don't have bike shoes, but I did have little plastic thingys on my laces to tighten them so I didn't have to tie them. My T1 time was 3:46, rank 438.

I got on my bike and headed out on the 10.5 mile course. It was a beautiful day. Slightly overcast, so the hot sun was never beating down on us. I had a great ride. Some women from waves 4 and 5 passed me, but I also passed some women in waves 1 and 2. (I was in wave 3) We had our wave number on the back of our calfs so I knew who was who on the bike ride. I felt great and finished in 39:54 (15.8 mph) on my awesome hybrid bike and ranked 346!

Transition 2 was much better than T1. All I had to do was get my bike on the rack, drop my helmet and run. Of course, there was a girl that took over my spot and her bike swung sideways so I had to move her bike over before I could hang mine. In hindsight, I should have just put my kickstand down. One plus of not having a road bike. My T2 time was 1:31 and ranked 336.

Then I was off for the run. This is where my ankle band started bothering me. There was sand caught under it from my hit and run with the ocean and it scratched me the whole time, I ended up with little scratches on my ankle that scabbed up for a week! But I made it and had a very nice pace for running after the swim and bike. I was very proud. My goal was to do at least 11 min/miles and I was able to kick out 10:31 min mile pace! I finished the triathlon with a 31:32 in the 3 mile run and ranked 441.

My over all rank was 366 out of 861 women. I was in the top half! I was 49 out of 93 in my age group, there was supposed to be 123 women in my age group. There were over 1100 women signed up. Many didn't show, many didn't finish. I am hooked. I am going to do another triathlon in Sept. I can't wait.

I have some pictures that Hubby took from his phone, but they are in my computer at home, and I am not home right now. I will post them later.

I am now training for my first ever 10K (6.2 miles). I have been maintaining my weight of 170 since the end of the Biggest Loser competition at the gym. I have actually been floating between 165-170, depending on the time of the day and what crap I ate the day before. But I just keep running. :)

Biggest Loser, my Kids and some sadness

2010-06-28T23:21:00.007-04:00

I started writing this post on June 25th. I updated what needed to be updated, but left the feelings of the end as is.....

So I have been long done with the Biggest Loser competition at the gym. Sorry I didn't update sooner. But, from Feb 22 to May 22 I lost a grand total of 30.4 pounds. This was over 15% of my body weight. I finished 6th in the competition...and won nothing but the awesome feeling that I am 2 sizes smaller. :) I have been doing a great job of keeping it off. My goal for the summer is just to maintain my new 170 pound body. I am actually down another 3-4 pounds (depending on the day). But I'm not as obsessed with the scale as I was during the competition. I have been running or biking or swimming as often as possible and loving it. I haven't even set foot in the gym in a couple months. I have been enjoying the outdoors as much as possible. Even in the 95+ degree heat we've been having. I did a 5 mile race last weekend and my goal was to run it in under an hour. I did it in 52:52 ! I am even doing a TRIATHLON in August!!

At the finish of my 5 mile! The boys wanted my medal and I wasn't giving it up...so I was able to get a couple more!

There has been so much going on. The Baby is now almost 22 months old and a holy terror. He talking, running and is getting into everything and climbing! Oh my lord the climbing. He has almost made it over the gate at the top of our stairs! He is going to give me a heart attack. The Kid is turning SIX next week and is finished with Kindergarten and is a FIRST GRADER! I can't believe I just typed that. wow. He finished swim school last week and did great. He learned how to ride his 2 wheeler with out training wheels on Memorial Day weekend.

This part written on June 25: On a more somber note, we have a good friend that just started hospice this past week. He was diagnosed with melanoma over 2 1/2 years ago. He went through all the treatments, removed lymphnodes and all that and they thought it was gone. He even ran a marathon last fall! Then, at a routine follow up scan last March they found tumors on his brain. They did surgery, but couldn't get them all. In that short period of time it has spread to many organs in his body. It seriously sucks just waiting. I can't even imagine what his wife is going through. He is 39 years old and has 3 children; a son, 10 and daughters, 7 and 5. It is just heartbreaking.

UPDATE: written tonight, July 14... Our friend passed away on June 29. It was the most awful funeral I have ever been to. Just looking as his parents, his wife and children made my heart break. My Hubby is still reeling from his death. They have been friends since HS. If anyone is interested in making a donation to his web page: Miles4Melanoma. He had just ran the Marine Corp Marathon in November on this team. He thought he was clear of cancer until a routine follow up visit in March found the tumors in his brain. Here is his fundraising website. The goal was originally $5K...that was met within 2 days of him passing... it is up to over $12K!! That is so awesome and a true gage on how truly great he was throughout his life, what a wonderful husband, father, son, uncle and friend he was, and how much he will be missed. Please donate if you have a spare dollar, if not, just say a prayer for his family. ...and WEAR YOUR SUNBLOCK!

P.S.

2010-05-04T12:15:00.003-04:00

I changed my header pic of the boys in my front yard this past weekend. No more Santa picture. It's about time, it's already MAY!!! LOL!!
So click on through your reader and check out my big boys! The Kid will be SIX! in July and the Baby is already 19 months old! It goes way too fast.

Week 10 Weigh In

2010-05-04T12:01:00.005-04:00

I just got back from a nice walk on the boardwalk with some friends. It is a gorgeous beach day today. We let the kids play on the playground in the sand after. The Baby loves the beach! If you have a chance to get out today...go to the beach!

Yesterday I weighed in after my spin class. I didn't have enough time to weigh in after dropping The Kid off at school and The Baby in the child care before the class started. So I was dripping sweat on the scale. I lost:

1.4 pounds!

Which makes a grand total of 24.2 lbs in 10 weeks! I am now fitting comfortably in a size 12 jean. I haven't been in 12's in over 5 years! I dropped a whole bra size... I was a 38DDD and I am the proud owner of 3 brand new 36DD bras!!! (And I am still nursing the Baby at night!)
I just feel fantastic overall.

I am really hoping that my calf heals soon. It still feels pulled when I try to jog/run. I have a few races lined up that I would love to do. There is a 5 miler in July that is my 1st goal to run that in under an hour. I'd like to do at least one 5K in May/June. I am also playing with the idea of doing a TRI in August. It is an all women's tri and sounds perfect for a first timer. The swim is 300 yds, bike about 19 miles and just a 3 mile run. I would love to do it. I have to decide before June 1, because then the cost goes up! LOL!

Week 9 Weigh In

2010-04-26T18:25:00.003-04:00

Sooooooo..... I lost another:

3 pounds!!

I am so excited. I have lost a total of 22.8 lbs. I am now under 180. Seriously. It's been a while since I was under 180. And I busted through the 180...I weighed in at 178.2. I was 170 back when the Kid was around 9 months old and I went gym crazy. I got SO bored after 3 months of just treadmill that I just gained it all back.

I asked about the standings and they only had up to week 7 percentages calculated. (He was working in week 8 - where I only lost 1 lb anyway) And I was ranked #7 overall!!! There are 16 teams of 5 = 80 people! And I am 7th. I can't believe it. Only the 1st place individual wins a year membership to the gym....but if I finish in the top 10 I think I could have some pretty good bragging rights. So back to the grind I go. My stitches come out tomorrow, so I can go back to power pump (weight lifting class) and do the elliptical with the arm things. My calf is still pulled a little, so I'm still not running, but my class of choice has been spin! It is so fun and I leave there dripping with sweat. I went twice this last week and had a great weight loss.

See you next week! I promise one of these days I will go back to blogging about the small people that live in my house and bug me all day. ;)

Week 8 weigh in

2010-04-19T12:17:00.002-04:00

Today I lost:

1 pound

I'll take it. I seem to be doing very well every other week. One week I'll loose over 2 pounds (twice over 4!) and the next week I'll lose under 2. So next week I fully intend on losing over 2 pounds. I am hoping in the next month to loose 10 more pounds in this competition.

I am a pin cushion on Week 7

2010-04-16T11:23:00.004-04:00

I'm a little late posting my weekly weigh in.... I was also a little late getting weighed in.

I didn't get over there until Tuesday morning. I went into the dermatologist to get the 'rest' of my freckle removed for "abnormal cells", and by 'rest of' I mean how much more could they possibly take?? The tiny black freckle they took was about the size of a pin head. (Thank you to my P.A. for spotting it!) So I go in at 10am last Monday fully expecting just a little hole in my arm similar to the one that was taken out of my leg over a month ago. Just numb me, cut me and put a band aid on it.

No. Not that easy. I got 3 frickin stitches!! I was totally not expecting stitches. I was planning on going home, getting my gym clothes on and going over for my weigh in and get a work out. Nope. By noon my arm was so sore. It sucked. Now I can't lift weights for 2 weeks! (one more week from this Tues when the stitches come out, really.) And I'm not supposed to lift the Baby?!? Huh? Fortunately, my arm looks great, a little bruise, but no redness or infection setting in, since I don't know how to rest.....my ass was back in the gym on Tues to get some elliptical time in (since my calf still pulls so I can't run) and get my weigh in.

This week, I lost ANOTHER:

2.8 pounds!

For those of you keeping track.... We are now at 18.8 pounds loss in 7 weeks!

Plus, on another, totally unrelated subject. As we speak I have 6 garbage bags of toys and clothes sitting at my curb waiting for the Big Brother/Big Sister Organization to come pick it up. I purged a little this week and feel great about it!

Week 6 weigh in

2010-04-06T10:21:00.004-04:00

So despite pulling something bad in my calf and being in pain when I walk for the last 3 days, at my weigh in yesterday, I still lost another:

1.8 pounds

Awesome. I am now down almost 17 lbs in 6 weeks. I am feeling great. I bought a pair of capris in the next size down (a twelve!) and wore them at Easter and got so many compliments.
I went to the gym this morning for the 1st time since Friday and did an hour on the bike. It was a good workout and now I have time to write since I have to ice my calf.

Our holiday weekend was nice. The weather was gorgeous and as soon as I download my pics from my camera I will post my very handsome little men in thier sweater vests. :)

2010-04-02T10:14:00.003-04:00

I am SO SO SO SO pissed right now.
I went to the gym this morning to do Zumba and 15 minutes into the class I felt a POP in my calf.
I am in so much pain. I have a call into the PT place to get some help. I am so hoping I just pulled something and not tore anything!
Seriously. So pissed.

Week 5 Weigh In!

2010-03-30T13:23:00.003-04:00

I have been kicking some ass in the gym and the weight loss department...

Despite the fact that we have had some really bad shit going on around us. 3 people I know have/had bad cancer. 2 just had brain surgery to have tumors removed. Both are doing fine. One has to start chemo asap, he has 3 young children. The 3rd was a friend of my mom's and he died very quickly, leaving 2 young children. A woman that I just met on Saturday at a banquet went home that night and accidentally fell down her stairs and broke her neck. She also had 2 small children and was planning her wedding to a great guy. We are still in shock for that last one, since we just found out last night.

But, in my little world, my accomplishment this week, I lost...

4.8 pounds!

Which gives me a grand total of 14.6 pounds lost. Going to the gym has become the norm and very therapeutic. I am so grateful for my happy healthy children, even though the Baby had a fever all last night and hardly slept. The meds weren't working and he was groaning in his sleep. And Hubby is just getting over something similar (he's been sleeping on the couch so he didn't get us sick). I don't even know how to end this post.

Just hug your little ones closer today and I hope all of you, my readers, are happy and healthy.

Never weigh in at night!

2010-03-23T10:03:00.004-04:00

So I was good eating all last week, mostly...there WAS St. Patrick's Day last week. And I AM Irish. ;)
I RAN over 20 miles over the last week, and walked another 8 or so. I did 2 classes at the gym. .....so tell me how the HECK did I gain:

.4 of a pound??

I will tell you how. I weighed in at 191.2 last night after a power pump class. Only AM weigh ins for me from now on. I was 188 on the scale this morning, after I ran another 4 miles. :)
I had already eaten all my meals for the day. Plus, holy CRAP, I can SEE my muscles!!! I know that I could have exhaled and not gained that .4 lb. But it's ok. I'll take it. My calfs are starting to be defined like they used to be. I can see my ankles. When I was in class last night doing curls I could actually SEE muscles in my arms! Those girly push-ups at night are doing their job!
I know that the fat is melting away. The muscles will only help in this competition in the long run. The only weight that matters is the 1st and the last, it's all good. I feel great. I am running 11 minute miles outside (12ish on a treadmill).

So I don't feel bad about a tiny gain (it's not even half a pound) and I will rock it this week.

Week 3 weigh in

2010-03-15T11:07:00.003-04:00

I went into the gym this morning for a spinning class. It was a great sweat! The Baby cried his little eyes out in the childcare for the first 10 min, but then was just fine and watching Elmo by the time I was done, so I went and did some weights for 10 minutes and then got my weigh in.

Week 3 I lost:

4.8 Pounds!!

I am now down to 190.8 and have lost 10.2 pounds in 3 weeks. I am still on a roll. My motivation hasn't gone down. I am looking ahead to each day on my google calendar and trying to figure out when I can get over to the gym. I feel fantastic.

Have I Turned Obsessed?

2010-03-14T17:14:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was one of the biggest storms to hit the Jersey Shore in a while...not counting the tons of snow that was dumped on us this winter. I am talking rain and wind. Oh the WIND! It was awful. We had wires down all over town (my hubby is in the fire dept so I am in the know). Branches falling everywhere. Flooding in many parts of our town and neighboring towns. There were even a couple calls of cars stuck in the water around the corner from my house. Luckily the water from the lake 2 blocks away and the river 1 block away never ever has reached this house. My grandfather has lived in the house since he was 6 months old (he is now 78). Our house never floods from the river or the lake....but we have the rain soaking into the foundation. Even with the brand new gutters Hubby and I got put on last summer. So our sump pumps are going off every 5 minutes or so. Luckily our basement isn't finished like one of my friend's is.

So in a nut shell. Wind. Cold. Rain. Wind. Did I mention the wind?

...And I ran a 5K in it. :)

I did one of my best times ever for a 5K. I did it in 33:44. That is a 10:53 min/mile pace! I am so proud of myself. I am just thawing out and drying up now.
Today is an off day. Hubby is working and the gym doesn't have childcare on Sundays. And although it isn't raining right now, the weather is too crappy to take the boys out in the jogger.

I have about two 5Ks a month lined up until July 10. I will be doing my first 5 MILER since I was in HS. A girl I knew in HS is friends with me on facebook and she has gotten into running recently and is running a 1/2 marathon in April, and she has been cheering me on. She challenged me to do this particular 5 miler under one hour. She has bet me $100. So we shall see how it all goes. It is exciting and I have my weigh in tomorrow and I'll be trying spinning for the first time.
I am also on dailymile. It has been fantastic for keeping track of my times and mileage. I joined the gym Feb 1 and started dailymile that day and I have logged 58 miles!
...anyone know how many miles you can do before you have to replace your shoes??

My Friend's Contest

2010-03-11T19:49:00.003-05:00

A fellow Jersey blogger friend is having a fantastic contest.

She is going to donate $25 to a charity of your choice!

So head on over here and let her know your charity and maybe you'll win. And feel really good about it. :)

200 posts gone by & my weigh in

2010-03-09T12:51:00.006-05:00

I almost didn't realize until I logged on today that this is my 200th post. I am glad I didn't let it go by without mention, because about 20 posts ago (and about 6 months ago) I was kind of waiting for it.
Now it's all anti-climactic since I didn't plan anything fun, like wedding pictures. They are still sitting in my camera. I will try to get some up this week. The Kid was amazing he went up that aisle like he was born to do that. If anyone needs a ring bearer, I can loan him out to you. ;)

But I did log on today to tell you all how I did with my weigh in this week. I knew it wasn't going to be as good as last week. I did bust my butt at the gym all last week in prep for the extravaganza. We had the rehearsal on Thurs with fantastic food and a few (4?) glasses of wine. Then we had the main event on Saturday. I kept myself up in the bridal suite with the Kid and stayed away from the massive cocktail hour. We had some good stuff upstairs, but I was saving myself for the prime rib. Plus they were serving BLUE MOON beer at the wedding!! It was a special request by the bride and groom and it is my favorite beer.ever. So I had quite a few of them. Sunday was really rough. I wasn't able to get over to the gym, but I stuck both kids in the double jogger (all 62+ pounds of them) and walked to the beach and back - a little over 2.6 miles. Yesterday, I was still recovering and was so sluggish all morning....just not as young as we used to be.... so when I picked up the Kid from school I brought his bike and had the Baby in the single jogger and we did 2 1/2 miles in 35 minutes. The Kid was a trooper...with promises of playground at the end.

Then we went over to the gym for my weigh in before dinner. I lost:

1 pound.

That's ok. I am happy I didn't gain anything. So I am now down 5.4 pounds in 2 weeks! That total number makes me happier.

Today was another gorgeous day in Jersey (FINALLY!) and I brought the Baby and the jogger to the beach and ran 3 miles on the boardwalk in 34 minutes! I am back on this and I will lose more and more. :)

This weekend I have a 5K and after my run today, I am feeling really good about it. And I won't have the jogger for that! Grandma will have the boys.

Week 1 Weigh In

2010-03-01T22:07:00.004-05:00

I went for my Biggest Loser weigh in today..... guess what?

I lost 4.4 pounds!!!

I am so excited!
I have been working my ass off at the gym (and actually enjoying the time to myself). I have been eating smaller portions of food (and NO fast food!) I have only had ONE glass of wine all week (I KNOW!) I also gave.up.coffee. I was never a huge coffee drinker, but since the (17 month old) Baby is still on the teet at night, a few times a night, I am exhausted and thought that the coffee would get me through the day. It doesn't. You know what does? Looking forward to doing 2.5-3 miles on the treadmill ALL.BY.MYSELF. at least 4-5 days a week. I have so much more energy than coffee ever gave me. Sure, I'm still exhausted, but it's a different tired. It's a 'I just sweated about a 1/2 pound off me tired.' And I'm ok with that.

The Baby is also going into HIGH maintenance separation anxiety. I couldn't even go take a shower in our own house with my MIL watching him downstairs without a major meltdown. Probably because I have been dropping his cute little butt in the gym day care too much for his liking. I say TOUGH! He will get through it. He will survive. After about 5-10 minutes he stops screaming and the girls at the gym can handle him. I need to do this for ME!
So off I go. 2% down. I am on my way!! :)

Next week may not be as impressive. I have my SIL wedding on Saturday. Um, yea, I've been looking forward to the food and open bar all year. And it would be rude not to partake in the fancy place my SIL is paying big bucks to have her wedding. But I will be in the gym everyday this week, maybe even twice a couple days (since Hubby is home all week and I can leave the Baby home) and I will be there the day after the wedding for my 'last chance workout!'

My Mom's Super Chili Recipe

2010-02-26T17:30:00.001-05:00

This is so easy and delicious. Wish I had some pictures for you, but you can get the idea of how colorful it is.

1 lb of chopped meat or turkey
1 onion -chopped
Cook until browned, drain

Put back in pot and add:
2 McCormack's chili seasoning packets - or season to your taste.
1 green pepper -chopped
1 yellow pepper -chopped
2 cans RED beans
2 cans PINK beans
2 cans BLACK beans
1 can small WHITE beans
1 can LIGHT RED beans
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 (28oz) can diced tomatoes
1 can corn

If you chose you can add a small jalapeno depending on your taste buds. I personally am not a big fan of the spicy, so I use mild seasoning packets and no jalapeno. You can also mix up the beans any way you like them.

I usually simmer on the stove all morning and it's fantastic. This recipe will make a LOT. Like possibly 4-5 quarts! So make and plan of giving some to neighbors, freeze or have a party!

The Snow Workout

2010-02-26T15:27:00.006-05:00

I have been doing great this week. Despite the massive snow we just got dumped on us, once again.
I was at the gym on Mon and Wed and did 2.5 miles in about 30 minutes each time. Yesterday the Kid had an early dismissal and then I was watching a friend's daughter so I wasn't able to get over there....but today... Ah. Hubby had to go to work (took him double the time to get there- that means it took 3 HOURS for him to get to work today) so I was on my own with this white hell that the sky keep giving us. So I bundled up the kids and went out to shovel our driveway. For those of you who have never been here (all of you) my driveway is loooooong. We can easily park 4 cars in it and if we really squeeze we could probably fit a 5th. But, I did it. All.by.myself! I did about 40 minutes and then we could hear the neighborhood kids out, so we went next door and played for a while. Then I brought the Baby home to nap and the Kid to have lunch and went back out for another 1/2 an hour! I came back in sweatier than I ever imagined I would have been.
There goes the guilt of not making it to the gym in 2 days.
Hubby is home all weekend, so I will be making frequent trips. :)
Few more days until my weigh in. I am very excited to see how I have done.

I also made some yummy food this week. I made a fantastic pot of turkey chili and a southwest chicken & white bean soup. Very filling, yet has so many good things in it! I'll post the recipes later, if you want.

And since I started writing this, I have seen the sun come out and then it started snowing again, then the sun came out again and now it's all cloudy and some flakes are coming down again. ugh. I am SO ready for spring. We better have a nice one.

And the start weight is...

2010-02-23T09:33:00.003-05:00

I did it. I weighed in yesterday afternoon.
I was wearing jeans, since I went while the Kid was in TaeKwonDo. And it was just after 4 in the afternoon. And it was after I stuffed my face all weekend.
I am 201 pounds.
Holy crap! I was honestly 180 last June when I was running. Then I stopped. And gained it all back.

I can't wait to fit into my size 14 jeans that I am squeezing over my ass every day. (can we say massive muffin top?) I threw out all my 16s last summer b/c I SWORE I would never be that big again. I am. I refuse to buy new jeans.

I went back to the gym after TKD. My mom came over and gave me 30 min on the treadmill. I went 2.5 miles! I realized yesterday that it's easier to look at time, not distance. Every 4th minute I would pick up the pace from 4.5 -> 5.5 for a minute. Then on the last minute I was around 6.2! I used to try to run faster for a 1/4 mile and I'd get tired out fast. I read a blog about intervals folloing the TIME and it worked much better.

ok. Officially time to kick my ass into gear. Of course, today is a free short stack of pancakes at IHOP (with a donation to Children's Miracle Network). And I promised the Kid we'd go for dinner. I will ONLY have the short stack with a bit of sugar free syrup (no butter) and no add ons, like bacon or sausage or breakfast potatoes. Then I will go to the gym!

Pigs are flying...

2010-02-20T17:27:00.003-05:00

I never thought I'd say this, but the beach sucks!! Well, running on the beach does. hahaha

It was only a 1/4 mile, but the snow on the beach was slippery and the sand was all soft. It was really rough on my ankles. But I reached my goal! I wanted to run the 2 mile run in under 25 minutes. Well, I went over the finish line at about 25:25....but it took me about a minute to even get to the start line after the race started. There were snow banks on the side of the roads and cars parked (they should have had no parking) so there were at least 1500 people crammed into a tiny street waiting to go. That is my estimate. I know there were 1300 pre-registered and it was a beautiful sunny 40+ day with hardly any wind. I wouldn't be surprised if there were another 200 people signed up that morning. I know a lot of people wait until the day of a race to check the weather if they want to run.

It was a gorgeous fun day. Then Hubby and I went to the after party at the bar and had a great time with another couple. The kids were great with grandma and we are just counting the minutes until bedtime!!
I am so looking forward to spring!!

2 more days until the weigh in!!

No weight yet...

2010-02-19T18:10:00.005-05:00

I went to the gym this morning. I didn't have to weigh in! yay! I have one more weekend to relax. We have to be weighed in by Monday, so I will have the stats on that then.

I did get on the treadmill for 2 1/2 miles. The first 2 miles I walked on an incline (3.5) and then for the last 1/2 mile I lowered the incline to 1.5 and upped the speed and jogged a bit. Holy cow, now I know why I never liked inclines. They are rough!

Tomorrow is a 2 mile beach run - only 1/4 mile is actually on the beach. Then after we are going to the bar with a couple friends and now I don't have to worry about the beer calories! :)

Under the Knife

2010-02-19T10:37:00.003-05:00

Kind of....it was a tiny knife.
I had a dermatologist appointment this morning to check out my mass of freckles and moles on my pale blonde body. Ironically, coincidentally, I don't know what it is, but my P.A. is friend's with my friend. Small freaking world, right? She was awesome, bytheway.

Anyway. I had 3 things cut off my body today. (I will have results in 1-2 weeks.) One right in the middle of my tramp stamp, one on my left thigh and one on my upper left arm. I am not sore yet since the holymotherofgod painful little needle with the numbing stuff is still in there, so I am heading to the gym. I have my weigh in and I am just going to do walking on an incline today. I don't want to do too much before my little cuts scab over, plus I have a 2 mile race tomorrow. Yay!
Need to drink a 1/2 gallon of water before I go.....

Will post later with gym results! :)

New Beginnings

2010-02-18T15:47:00.004-05:00

Hubby and I have joined the local gym. I have been going 2-3 days a week for the last 3 weeks. I am SO hoping this doesn't fizzle out again, like it does every other time I start running.

Once, when The Kid was 8 months old I was going to an all womens gym and was on the treadmill almost every day. I lost 30 pounds in 3 months. I know, right? Unheard of. Especially since I wasn't tracking food at all. Imagine what I can do when I start really logging my food into Sparkpeople! Then I gained it all back. Then I got pregnant, then I had a miscarriage, then I got pregnant again and had the Baby. (who is almost 17 months old!! Holy Crap!)

In the last 4 years I have taken Running 101, 102, 101, 102, 101 and then 102 again. (A local running club does these programs to get people back into running or to start running if you've never run before.) Each time I was into running, ran a few 5Ks and then stopped. And gained all the weight back. Then I had to start all over again.
Last June I had finished my 3rd Running 102 class and I was 20 pounds lighter than I am now. Seriously. I would like to say I gained 20 pounds in 8 months...but honestly, I have been at the same weight since last November...so the 20 lbs came back within 5 months. How the hell does that happen? Excuses? I broke my toe in Sept. What was my excuse from June until then? The heat? 2 kids? not good enough. I have no excuses except that I got lazy again.

I am joining the Biggest Loser competition at my gym. The weigh-in is tomorrow. I am planning on being accountable to many many other people. I have been posting on dailymile every time I go to the gym or do my Wii fit, which in turn posts to my facebook. I plan on posting here as often as I can and hope to get some support and motivation to keep it up well past May when the competition is over.

Here are my goals.
I will lose at least 20 lbs in the next 3 months.
I will keep losing until I am down to 160. I know that isn't my 'ideal' weight by my height, but I would be very happy with that. Any more is a bonus.
I will do one or two 5Ks a month starting in March, until Sept....then I will run a 5 miler.
In 2011 I will run a 1/2 marathon. There. I put it out there. I think I have been saying that for years.
I will post my progress, including weight. I will take pictures, and maybe I will get brave enough to post them...when I have a good 'after' shot. ;)

Push me. Challenge me. Motivate me.
Please.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-20T20:47:00.003-05:00

So, as we are totally snowbound on the Jersey Shore here are a few Christmas Photos of my boys for you to enjoy. The Kid will be 5 1/2 in January and the Baby will be 15 months on Wed. I can't believe the time goes so fast...but the days feel so slow! LOL!
And if you click on over, there is another visit with Santa on my header. The Baby was not thrilled AT.ALL. with this guy.
Then we had the fire company that my hubby is a member come to the house on the firetruck last night to deliver a couple presents (that were bought, wrapped and dropped off by us) to the boys. Oh man. The Baby couldn't believe Santa was in our house. He flipped. So glad this stranger in a red suit is only once a year...and it's almost over!

I'm still going to the beach

2009-11-16T21:15:00.007-05:00

I know, I know. Who the hell is this person and where has she been. Is what you are all saying...if there are any of you left here at all.

I think about blogging everyday and I do miss it. I am still here reading everyone and commenting when I can.

But I am peaking out of my crazy life for a moment to tell you that my Baby is almost 14 months old andwherethehelldidthetimego? He is walking and babbling and growing way too fast. The Kid is 5 and enjoying every minute of Kindergarten. (full day, bytheway) We are all doing well. Other than growing not much around here has changed. We did finish the construction upstairs and moved up there last May. My grandparents that live with us were here for the summer. My grandmother broke her hip, recovered beautifully and they have already gone back to Florida.

Oh, and the real reason I just had to blog tonight, I wanted to share..... It was such a beautiful day that we blew off TaeKwonDo and went to the beach. And guess who was there?

Bruce Springsteen!!!!

He was so nice and was taking pictures with anyone who asked. It was just a few scattered people, but hey, he didn't have to do that. It was my first real celebrity encounter and it was awesome....now I want to bump into Jack Nickelson or Bon Jovi...they are all local Jersey guys too. :)

Spring is so close I can taste it!

2009-04-01T19:18:00.004-04:00

So guess what? I'm pregnant again....

APRIL FOOLS!!

Just had to do it.

The boys are getting so big. I am on my laptop so I don't have pictures on here.

The Kid is coming out with some doozys. I was using my navigation on my phone last week in the car and he says from the back seat. "Mom, when the rays of the sun hit your phone the shininess gets in my eyes." So I had to move my phone.
Today he says, "Mom, did you know that the sun is a star? And when we are waking up the other side of the world is going to sleep." Where did he hear that? I ask.... "Blue's Clues." Glad we are sending him to pre-school.

The Baby is rolling all over the living room. He just rolls and rolls and rolls. It's just a matter of time before he is pulling himself up. He will be 7 months old on the 23rd this month. I believe that the Kid was was cruising around by then. Oh boy. But we don't even have full sitting up alone yet. So we may get a little delay. YEA! I am not ready for another mobile baby. He does the Pilate's move when you lift up your legs and your head and kind of balance on your butt. Very funny. He is trying so hard to sit up. He can stay for about 10 seconds and then he tips over.

April and May are uber-busy. This weekend we have egg hunts galore. Then Easter weekend the Kid starts his peewee soccer every Saturday morning. I can't wait to see the pack of kids running up and down the field after the ball. I start my running class every Sunday morning the week after that in prep for the 5K I will be running at the end of June. I did walk a 5K last Saturday and it was nice. I borrowed a friends double jogger and it was great having both boys with me.Now I am on the hunt for a cheap used double jogger. Anyone?

I have been walking a lot lately and I have lost 41 pounds since the day I gave birth six months ago. That excites me! I am below 185, and I haven't been there in about 3 years. I am still dairy free for the Baby so I am sure that has a lot to do with it. I am afraid to try anything. It just breaks my heart when he screams. My pedi doesn't think it has anything to do with the dairy. At his 6 month visit he told me so. He also told me that I can 'let him cry' to get him to sleep better. He actually told me that it would take up to an hour of crying for him to 'learn' to self soothe himself.. WTF? I like this doctor for the fact that he is always available (he sends his off hours calls right to his cell) but really? an hour? After 5 minutes I want to cuddle the Baby. I am more of a 'Dr. Sears' type mommy. Not a Dr. Ferber.

I am so glad I finally got a post update and it's not just pictures. I am still reading all your blogs...they are just in my reader now. I try to buzz through them, but I don't always have the time to click over and comment. You all know your kids are adorable too. :)

Top O' The Morning to You

2009-03-22T09:24:00.000-04:00

Seriously. look at those eyes!

2009-03-20T09:17:00.000-04:00

Should be sleeping

2009-03-19T21:08:00.004-04:00

Hi Hi!

I know I haven't been around, but here are a few shots of the boys that I have been taking.

Right now they are both sleeping.

In no particular order. We have some beautiful blue eyes, a tinkertoy snowman, a baby that can put both his big toes in his mouth at the same time, a Valentine's Day photo at the rehab my mom went to after her knee replacement (she is fine, thanks), and a couple kids playing in the tub.

These were all taken last Feb. and I will try to get some up from March....sometime before April!

Tickets to the Circus

2009-02-23T09:39:00.002-05:00

A really quick post...just to tell you my friend, Ice Cream Mama, is having a contest to win 4 tickets to the circus here in Jersey. Go check it out if you are in the area and want to win...or not, then I can win. ;)
Click Here to visit her and let her know I sent ya! ----> CIRCUS

I'm still here, a zombie, but here.

2009-02-20T11:15:00.001-05:00

Hi.
Hey.
Anybody out there?

I know I have been a very bad bloggy friend. I have been trying to read every one's blogs, I just haven't had a chance to comment. I haven't had a chance to write.

I am exhausted.

Last month the Baby decided to start screaming. The ear piercing can't hear my self think want to cry with him screaming. He was in pain.

Every night we would push through his once a day screaming session. Then the next day he would be just fine, so we didn't call the doctor...right away. The screaming session slowly moved earlier and earlier until he had one at 2 in the afternoon. I called the doctor. It was 2 weeks later. He was on vacation so we went to his dr that was filling in. She heard the screams in all their glory since she did a strep test on him since his throat was all red. (It was negative.) She told me he had reflux and colic. She prescribed Zantac and told me to lay off the dairy and the chicken. Huh? What the hell am I supposed to eat?!!?

I started doing some online research (including reading the dairy chapter in Skinny Bitch <- don't do it...) And I decided myself that I was going to start with going completely dairy free to see if that helps with the pain. Well as of today the Baby has been on the Zantac for 15 days, I have been completely dairy-free for 11 days and he has been screaming in pain-free for the last 9 days. I don't know if it's the medication or the no dairy...but I'll take it and keep going until he is scream free for 2 full weeks. So cross your fingers for me.

He is still not sleeping very well. He is up anywhere between every half an hour to about an hour and a half. I don't think he has slept more than a 2 hour stretch in a month unless he was on my lap, including naps. I am this close -> <- to letting him in the bed. It would totally keep me sleeping a bit longer if I don't have to climb out of my warm bed, make the trek out to the living room to nurse, wait until he is in a deep sleep and then put him down, hope he stays and try to fall back asleep myself. The Kid co-slept with us from 6 months to 18 months and I haven't decided if I want to do that again. The Baby will be 5 months old this Monday!

As if lack of sleep wasn't enough, to top off my lack of computer time...we just got Fios installed last week and our main computer (with all my passwords/pictures/favorite places, etc) has been moved upstairs. We are still not living upstairs, but will hopefully be up there within the next 2 weeks or so. Until then, I go up there occasionally to use the main computer but I have been on my laptop downstairs slowly finding all my sites again on here. So please forgive me for being a bad commenter. I will be back in full swing soon. I am going to try to post some of the many pictures I have taken in the last month this week.

Tomorrow I sign up the Kid for soccer. On Tuesday I sign him up for KINDERGARTEN!! Holy crap!
Till next time....

First Swing Ride

2009-01-30T10:57:00.001-05:00

I took the Kid to a local play place where they have swing sets inside! It's where we had his 4th birthday last summer. I need to get him out of the house and running around but the weather is just not cooperating. The Baby got to go on his first ride on a swing! Something I was sure wasn't going to happen until spring. He loved it!

One Millionth Swing Ride

2009-01-29T09:30:00.003-05:00

It has been a long long week and just getting longer by the night.

The Baby has taken up a new hobby of ear piercing screaming. In the beginning it was longer than an hour. It was and still is only once at night, somewhere between 8pm-12am. It has since gotten shorter in the screaming and a bit longer in the sleeping. Probably because he tires himself out.

Last night I tried the gripe water that a friend had given me and it worked like a charm. I also tried some white noise. The fan above our stove is perfect for that. I am thinking of bringing the baby's bed into the kitchen.

Here is the Baby at 4 months old.

Thirty-Two

2009-01-18T06:00:00.005-05:00

Today I turn 32. I am trying not to think about it. So I think I am going to try to give you 32 things about myself. I will try to give you things that I haven't blogged about yet. Enjoy! :)

1. I was on the track team 4 years in HS, and 2 years in college.

2. I ran the 100M hurdles and the 400M hurdles!

3. I was on the field hockey team 2 years in HS and 1 in college. College was too damn competitive for me.

4. I am a Delta Phi Epsilon.

5. Most of college was a drunken blur.

6. I graduated with a BA in Law & Justice, but never knew what I'd really do with the degree. It took me 4 1/2 years.

7. I went to the police academy in 1999.

8. I was 60 pounds lighter in 1999 than I am now. Did gravity change since then?

9. I met my husband while we were working as special police officers on the boardwalk.

10. I love steak! Especially when my mom makes it on the grill after marinating in her special sauce for 2 days.

11. I love to read fiction. Usually cop dramas. Mostly while nursing these days. But my favorite place to read is the beach...but probably not this summer with the Baby eating sand.

12. I am a TV-aholic. I record at least 2 hours a night, except Thursdays I have 5 HOURS of shows I watch. Plus ABC Soaps.

13. I am tender-hearted - I truly would never intentionally hurt a friend and if it happens accidentally I am sorry and I mean it.

14. I am proud to be a Jersey girl.

15. Outside America, I have been to Mexico (Cancun), Spain (Madrid & Tenerife) and Saint Lucia (honeymoon).

16. Inside America, I have been to NY, PA, New Orleans LA, FL, DC, Ocean City MD, Myrtle Beach SC, WI.

17. I believe our trip to a wedding in WI is where were conceived the Kid.

18. I also believe our trip to a wedding in the Keys in FL is where we conceived the Baby. Hubby doesn't think so.

19. I am told my smile is my best feature.

20. I want to tattoo my boy's names on me but I don't know where, or if I'll ever have the guts or the money.

21. I am a total mutt. I have Irish, English, Swedish, German. My Hubby is 3/4 Irish and 1/4 Russian - that's it! So my boys: mutts like me with some added Russian.

22. I love to ride my bike. Especially when I have a kid on the back.

23. I have one best friend that I have kept since we met in first grade. Our mom's were Girl Scout leaders together and we thought we were hot sh!t. Now our sons will grow up together - they are a year apart. And that makes me very happy.

24. I have played the flute since 5th grade.

25. I can also play the piccolo and I was in the marching band and concert band in HS.

26. I went to a dance school during HS. I did tap & jazz.

27. I am oblivious to local & world events, but I wish I wasn't. I just don't have time to watch the news.

28. I love coffee with French Vanilla flavor milk in it and lots of sugar.

29. I have one brother, 2 girl cousins and 6 boy cousins on both sides of my family. I am the oldest out of all of them. I am sad that my boys have no cousins.

30. I have known my Hubby for 10 years. We've been married for 6 years this April.

31. Obviously, I LOVE THE BEACH!

32. I also love comments and hope I can get more than 32 on this post. :)

My 'Karate' Kid

2009-01-14T18:40:00.000-05:00

OK, so it's not Karate. Karate is from Japan. My Kid has started Taekwondo. That is from Korea. According to one of the dittos that we got in the info packet from the school "Saying that Taekwondo is Karate is like saying our football is the same as England's rugby."

My cousin went to this school for years and started when he just older than my Kid. He achieved a black belt and went all over for competitions and won many trophy's. I am not sure that is a goal that the Kid understands right now or if one that he would want to pursue. He is just having so much fun . He has been really enjoying it and looks forward to it much more than he did when he went to the Little Gym. I thought that it was going to be so expensive, but it turns out it's no more per class than the Little Gym, and here he will be working toward real goals (belts) instead of just taking classes.

He was so proud of himself when he got his white belt during his second class. Three months from now, if he practices and does well in class, he will have his yellow belt. It's a Lil' Dragons program for 4-5 year olds. They don't really learn the whole form or get solid belts. They learn respect for themselves and others, discipline, self-confidence and self-esteem. Their belts have a color stripe going through them. They don't begin the solid belts until they are 6.

How cute is he in his uniform?!?!

4AM Freakout

2009-01-13T17:06:00.000-05:00

While we are talking about sleeping arrangements. How many of you know the feeling of waking up refreshed and feeling wow, how long did I sleep? Only to realize as you look at the clock that you last looked at it over 7 hours ago? Not many? Me either, until this morning. And it freaked me the hell out!

I haven't been able to put 2 coherent sentences together these last 2 weeks, hence, no posts. The Baby has been up and down, up and down and up and down every 2 hours or so for a while. And oh my lord, why won't he nap?? I get about 15-20 min on my lap after nursing and when I try to put him down...eyeballs wide awake ready to eat again or play. I am assuming he was having a massive growth spurt. I can't wait to see what he weighs on his 4 month visit.

So anyway. picture it. 4AM. I wake up and realize I last looked at the clock at 9PM. Rushed out to the Baby's pack&play to make sure he was still breathing. Yes, that kind of freakout. He was fine and still sound asleep. Took another hour to calm myself down and then I hear the 'I'm hungry' fuss start around 5AM. He eats, goes back down and I don't hear from him again until 7:30. Nice. Cross fingers that we are now in a nice sleeping pattern.

The cats love the Baby. They let him pull their hair. They have always been great with babies. They have never once hissed, scratched (on purpose) or bit the Kid or the Baby.

Yes, that is freaky Bob the Builder PJs that have no head.

Left: Abby, Right: Zoe

And no, I didn't name them after Sesame Street characters. We had them before we had kids.

And just look at those eyes!

Sleeping Arrangements

2009-01-08T09:03:00.000-05:00

So the poor Baby has been sleeping in his bassinet for over 3 months. He was starting to get a little bit cramped in there. We are still not moved upstairs and we do not have any room to put his crib yet. Hell, we don't even have room to get my poor 4 1/2 (almost) year old a twin bed and get him out of the tiny toddler bed.

So here are the 'before' pictures. They were taken on exactly 12/23 when he was 3 months old. Because I realized after he was already asleep for the night (I hoped) that I didn't take one picture of him all day when he turned 3 months old.

Not much room to move.

So we pulled out the pack and play. It has that little extra bassinet on top so I don't have to lean all the way down to put him to sleep. And here is the 'after' just a couple nights ago, after we got him back out of the swing at night while he was sick.

All the room in the world!

A Random Wordless Wednesday - almost

2009-01-07T09:12:00.000-05:00

Giving me the finger.

It's an odd angle because I was wearing him on our walk when the Kid was riding his new bike for the first time. I guess that's what he thought of the fact that this bike would one day be his. hahaha

Christmas Loot

2009-01-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

So Christmas morning has come and went. And I am WAY behind on my posting. Unfortunately the Baby got his first bad cold on Christmas Day. He started coughing and he was all congested. He was barely sleeping and had to go back in the swing to be upright. The Kid had it first and passed it on. Then I got it the weekend after Christmas and was miserable. But, we made it and are all better now.

The only think that the Kid asked for from Santa was the Diego Dino Mountain Play Set. Well, Santa had to come through with that one....even though the Kid already has a big Diego play set that he got last year and is taking up space in the toy area.

And what Diego Dino set would be complete without the Dino Rescue Jeep?

Mommy and Daddy got him a toy jackhammer...which he saw at Target and LOVES, although right now I have no clue where it is. We also got him a bunch of workbooks. He loves doing mazes and letter books, so I have a pile of about 10 books he can pick and work on at any given time. He also asked for treasure chest. I found a box and filled it with some pirate booty. Of, course I missed pictures of all this stuff.

Then it was breakfast time. Bacon and Mickey shaped chocolate pancakes are the favorite around here.

The Baby got this ball in his stocking and loves to hold it and try to bite it. It's so freaking cute.

Then we were off to the in-laws. Hubby's brother & sister got him the Smart Cycle. Grandma got him the Cool School keyboard with extra games. So far he is loving both and I would recommend them. Although, we need to get another game for the Smart Cycle, he is getting bored of the one that comes with it already.

And the Baby got mostly teething rings and savings bonds, and he was happy with that.

Oh, and 'Santa' found a few of the Kid's old toys and wrapped them up and stuck them under our tree.

Then we went to my Dad's side of the family over at my Grandfather's house. The Kid got Diego Crocs for the summer and a Handy Manny truck that turned into a work bench. It was nice the first 2 days when we didn't realize it had noise. hahaha.

So, now we are in a holding pattern until we can move upstairs. There are just a couple doors to hang and some trim to put up. Some paint to paint and we are DONE! When this happens I am cleaning out the toy area. It is horrendous! I want to donate it to some shelters and churches.

Look What The Kid Bought With His Christmas Money

2009-01-05T17:50:00.004-05:00

It's his very first 2 wheeler. It's a 16" wheel! He skipped right over the 12" wheels. When we went to the beach path last week on a freak warm day we brought his tricycle to ride and realized he is just MUCH too big for that thing. We talked him into using the money he has saved in his bank and the money he got for Christmas to buy himself a big boy bike. I think he will take care of it more if it was just under the tree. He made sure he and Daddy put it away in the garage, in case it rains.

He is such a big boy, and sometime this month we will be signing him up for KINDERGARTEN! Oh.My.God.

Christmas Eve 2008

2009-01-03T08:00:00.001-05:00

I guess now is as good as time as any to catch up on some Christmas cheer.

Every Christmas Eve we go to my mom's house for dinner. It makes it so much easier on Christmas to make one less stop. That was mostly because we used to live in North Jersey and didn't want to drive all over the state and have to mush in all our visits in one day. My best friend since 1st grade always comes over to spend some Christmas cheer with us. Her son is the Kid's buddy. Can you believe my Kid is a year older than hers? Well, 11 months. Seriously, His Buddy is an inch or 2 taller and they both look so grown up sitting there so nice. Yea, that lasted about 30 seconds. They were tearing up the place and wrestling most of the time they are together. They are going to be big trouble together when they are older.

The little devils, er, I mean angels

The Baby was very interested in the toys my mom had that make music, move and ring bells.

I love love love the Baby in his green Christmas diaper!

The Kid got lots of fun stuff at Grandma's house. (Thanks Mom!) She refused to buy him any toys, our house already looks like a toy store threw up after a bad night with Jose. No toys, except for the Hess truck that she gets him every year. That is one of his favorite things. But I missed a picture of that one because he got to open that before his buddy came over...and I neglected to pull the camera out. Anyway...here are a few cool things he got, and my polite little man said thank you after every one and was beyond patient to open them. I was pleasantly surprised.

Here is his new bank. It records all the money that goes in. He got it with a few bucks in it. He has since emptied out his piggy banks in there and has over $34 now!

Here is my world traveler brother. My mom got them both world maps so they could pin point all the places he has been...except, she accidentally got one world map and one US map. We took the US, he has to learn his states eventually anyway. He already can find about 8 states on a map and knows about 4 or 5 capitols. Thank goodness for his USA placemat. We'll get the world map too, eventually.

Just look at that face because grandma and mommy made him try on his new beach towel for a photo. 'just let me play with my Hess truck.'

And here is our tree after Santa visited at 1am. Photos of Christmas morning to come...

Hello 2009

2009-01-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

Here is a clean new years baby...out with the dirty and in with the clean! hahahaha

Waiting nekked under that towel until I go get the soap I forgot, please don't pee...

Making sure the baby doesn't fall while mommy gets a picture
He is loving the bath, you wouldn't know it by his face, but he was watching his brother on the counter kicking and didn't cry a bit...this time

See Ya 2008

2008-12-31T16:43:00.006-05:00

Wow. 2008 is just an inch away from being gone and 2009 is banging at the door. I have been around reading a bunch of blogs and almost every one has a nice recap of 2008 with some photos or an actual montage set to music. Well, I have barely had time to write any post this month, I can try to get around to that next year.

What I am thankful for in 2008 is my beautiful baby boy and the very cool big brother, the health of my family, the fact that Hubby has some pretty good job security, a new home, a new car. And here's to wishing some more plentiful thankfulness (is that a real sentence?) in 2009.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

Yes, those are my socks he is wearing as gloves. hahaha

Our Tree

2008-12-30T13:36:00.000-05:00

Whoops. So I thought I had a few posts scheduled to come out during the Christmas week since I knew I was going to be so busy. Well, I did it wrong. So the next week I will try to get these posted. This is the post I was going to put up on 12/16.

We went out last Friday (12/12) to get our tree at a little place around the corner from us.

The Kid had so much fun just running in and out and between the trees. We picked the most perfect little tree,

You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!

2008-12-19T16:21:00.006-05:00

I'm so bummed. We were supposed to go up to a friend's house only 30 minutes north of us, but at her house, SNOW. At my house rain rain rain. So we have postponed for another day. Our kids make Christmas cookies each year and exchange little gifts. This year we decided to have the kids make gifts for each other. I can't tell you all what my Kid made for his girlfriend, yet. Her mom reads here, and it's a surprise. LOL!

So we will see them Monday and in the meantime...we made a kick ass gingerbread house in the non-Christmasy weather.

Very proud of his work.

Notice the sleeping Baby in the swing... the very rare nap. I don't think he has napped longer than an half an hour a day in a week... but the plus side, he only gets up 2 or 3 times at night and goes right back down after nursing for about 15 min.

How's the Weather?

2008-12-15T19:30:00.000-05:00

This was us yesterday. I took this myself. Hubby was at work.

We were in the house most of the day in PJ's. I didn't want to go anywhere. It was too cold and cloudy and just looked crappy out there. But, after the 7th hour of Backyardigans I decided I HAD to get the Kid outside and get some energy out and get some fresh air. So I bundled us up.

He rode up and down the driveway about 20 times.

I sat them together for a cute brother's shot.
This was us TODAY!

It was freaking 64 degrees here in NJ! It's December FIFTEENTH! It was gorgeous. No coats, no hats. I got to see my Baby's chunky little arms today. And the Kid went across the monkey bars all by himself for the first time!

Help me choose a camera!

2008-12-14T12:30:00.001-05:00

I am so sick of my camera. I am sick of the red eye that makes my Baby look like the devil. I am sick of the missed smiles because there is a delay on every shot I take. I am sick that the once 'waterproofing' of my camera has been broken for the last 2 years. I have the Pentax Optio. It only has 5 megapix and I know there are cameras out there with more than double that! But I honestly don't know what megapixels are. ARGH!

Dear Santa,

I would love new camera for Christmas.

Thanks!

Love, Beach Mama

I have told my family to just give me cash so I can get a nice camera to take more (and better) pictures of the kids.
...Now I just have to figure out which one to get. It will depend on how much money I receive, of course. I do love that I can just stick my little camera in my pocket where ever I go. I do love that there is a little video feature that I can take if I don't have my actual video camera.. which is over 8 years old and massive compared to the ones out there now.. but I digress it's a photo camera I am looking to buy now.

So here are my very important questions I am throwing out there for all of you that take and have beautiful pictures on your blogs...or just have a good camera and want to share with me what you have.

First I will tell you that I have an awesome Canon RebelXs camera that I got back in 1996 for a college class. It is film, not digital. But I have a 35-80mm lens that came with it. Do all Canons have interchangeable lenses? Would I be better off buying a more expensive body of a camera and just use the lens I have?
I am leaning toward getting a full big body camera, I can still use my smaller one outside and stick it in my pocket if I want to leave my good new one behind...especially for amusement parks and the like. Or would a powershot or elph be just as good? I am not set on a Canon, but I figured since I have one with an extra lens it would be easier. If you have another camera and want to let me know all about it, please do.

- I have been seeing online and in some people posting something about SLR. What exactly is that? I read about it on wiki and I still don't quite understand it. Anyone have a simpler explanation? Or is it not really worth it for someone like me? Is it more for professionals?
- What do you need to be able to just push the button and take the picture with NO delay? This one is super important. The delay kills me!
- Is there any way to eliminate red eye without that flashy light and delay before the shot?
- Is there ANYTHING else I should be looking for to have a great camera?

I love photography. And when I was taking the class in college and the first year of the Kid's life while I was using the film camera I took shots that were beautiful. I just can't get the same degree of photos with my little handheld.

I really appreciate any and all suggestions and help I can get.
Thanks!!

Tiny Bit of OCD coming through...

2008-12-11T09:16:00.006-05:00

I know. It's Dec 11th. Where do the days go?

Guess what? We still don't have our Christmas tree. Yup. We were planning on going yesterday, didn't happen. And said we'd go today. Well, now it's raining. So I don't know if that's going to happen. See now if I had a fake one, I could have had it up weeks ago.

We are going to head over to the mall today so I can get the boys pictures taken all dressed up with Santa...so I can get the Christmas cards. Nope. Haven't done that yet either.

And the funny thing is, I feel no pressure, no stress that I still have so much to do for the holiday.

I do have all the gifts bought and wrapped for the Kid. I have the gifts for the kids' grandma's. Can't show you here yet, because they all read my blog...but I will show you after Christmas, they are great!

In spite of the lateness of everything else, I think I caught a little bit of Christmas OCD. I am the furthest thing from an OCD person. But, I decided this year to tell the Kid that Santa brings one or two big special gifts and fills your stocking and the rest is from mommy and daddy. I wrapped the Santa gifts in a pretty red paper and decided to wrap all of the mommy/daddy gifts in this white & silver snowflake paper. Then, when I had only 2 or 3 left to wrap I realized I wrapped the stocking gifts in snowflakes! My Kid is too damn quick. I KNOW he would realize that if I said Santa fills the stocking - how did the mommy/daddy paper get in there. So I did what I think is a bit OCD and unwrapped the stocking gifts and re-wrapped them in the red paper. I don't know, do you think that was a bit crazy? If you know my kid, you know he doesn't forget a thing and he picks up on stuff that we never thought he would. It's kinda creepy.

My Christmas Tree Rules

2008-12-02T11:15:00.000-05:00

I have been in a writing slump for a while. I know you all love to see pictures of the kids for no reason what so ever. But that only keeps readers so long... right? where did you all go?

Anywho, now all of a sudden December hit me up side the head. Holy crap! I can't believe we have less than one month left in 2008. The kids are getting too big too fast. But yet, at the same time, time is dragging. Why is that? How the hell does that happen?

I am stealing a couple ideas for this post. Of course I am giving credit where credit is due.

My favorite Modern Matriarch made a list today of her Christmas tree rules. I loved it so much I couldn't just write a whole blog post in her comments when I have been neglecting writing over here. So here are my rules.

1. White lights only. And those would be solid white, no seizure inducing chasing lights. Although, I would like to know where AA gets her 'twinkle' lights. They sound pretty.

2. Real trees only. I just can NOT jump on the fake tree band wagon yet. I know I will eventually. Hubby asks every year for one, and every year I tell him it's just not Christmas until we go out in the freezing cold to pick out a tree that will (hopefully) last a month and die. (I know, not very green of the bf, cloth diapering mama.) I tell him we'll get one next year. That has lasted 8 years. I just love the challenge of finding different nooks and crannies for all my different ornaments. If we get a fake one they will all have the same place each year. Bor-ing.

3. I throw all of my ornaments up on the tree. I love my ornaments. Some are handmade, most are bought. All have a sentimental meaning. They all find a place in my mish mosh tree.

4. I refuse to buy an expensive blanket that is circle shaped to go around the bottom of the tree. I use a perfectly good cheap green table cloth. I used to use a green sheet, but found a table cloth on sale after Christmas one year.

5. My tree is topped with an angel. I don't know where or why I bought it. I am not super religious. I just never found a star that I liked. And now, this blond little angel that sits atop my tree is symbolic of my late grandmother who passed on 1/1/01. She isn't going anywhere.

2007 tree in our old house

When I get a chance I am going to do a short post of what I do with Christmas Cards... inspired by Swistle

Hope you all had a Happy Turkey Day

2008-11-28T14:14:00.001-05:00

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

2008-11-22T07:00:00.000-05:00

Last week we went to the mall. It was the first day Santa was there. Seriously, 2 weeks before Thanksgiving the big guy shows up at the mall. They are really trying to push the holiday aren't they?
The Kid wanted to let Santa know that he wants the Diego Dino Mountain Playset. It is the only thing he has been asking for for weeks. Has mommy bought it yet? No. Am I a bad procrastinator? Yes. I really need to get this thing now before it's all sold out. I haven't had a chance to shop without him...although, I should just get it online, duh. Anyway, the mall. yea. This mall had a great Santa AND a sassy little Mrs. Claus too. They got to sit and chat because there was absolutely not one kid in line. The mall was empty on a Friday afternoon.
But, now I really wish that I took the sleeping Baby out of the stroller to get in on the photo opportunity. Oh well, we'll try again after Thanksgiving with the adorable outfits I got them with a gift card I had from the Children's Place.

After the Santa visit, the Kid went over to the area that they created for Christmas for F.A.O. Schwartz. It's not there all year. Look at the $200+ stuffed animals. Who buys those? I can barely fit all the crap that the Kid plays with in the house.

I don't think that giraffe would even fit in my house!

Photo at 5:42 AM

2008-11-21T18:00:00.001-05:00

Yes, he is sleeping in his bassinet. I turned over a very alert, playful and full baby to Hubby last night so I could get some sleep before the next feeding. He fell asleep in Hubby's arms and he put him down in the bassinet. Then the Baby didn't wake for a while...I got 6 HOURS of sleep. Then he nursed, went back down into the bassinet and slept for another 3.
*KNOCK WOOD* Please don't let me jinx it!

Doing my Small Part to Save the Earth

2008-11-21T11:05:00.001-05:00

So I have dove head first into the cloth diaper pool. I am almost at the 24 hour point of not throwing one disposable diaper away. It feels really really good. I'll let you know how I feel tonight when I have to wash all the diapers. hahaha. But that shouldn't be too much of a problem, I have a great washer & dryer that has a cold soak cycle and then I wash with hot water. And doesn't he look SO cute in his new diapers??

This is the happy face in the FuzziBunz

And what a deal I got! I have 14 size smalls that I bought online from an eBay-like site that sells used diapers (and they look like new!), 15 size mediums that I bought from a good friend of mine before she moved back to TX (MISS YOU A). And she included a mess of other cloth diapering accessories, worth much more than she sold them to me for. The bottom line is, I have enough diapers to last the Baby until he is potty trained (unless he trains late and gets much bigger than his brother and won't fit in the mediums) all for about $250!!! Yes, $250 for the next 2 - 2 1/2 years of diapers!

We are also doing very well on the nursing. I am just so thrilled that I stuck with it through all the pain and the tears and will never have to buy formula either!

I can't get a job right now to contribute, but I think that's a whole lot that I saved for our family, and I can do my little part to make my footprint smaller on this Earth for my boys.

Cute Pictures of the Baby

2008-11-18T18:40:00.006-05:00

Because he's 8 weeks old today...

Wearing a hat at the baby shower we went to on Saturday...it actually belongs to the unborn baby. LOL! The mom put it on his head. He was the hit of the party.

Ack! There's that flashy thing again

Yo yo, whaz up??

You know I am not sleeping in here, right?

HAHAHAHA!

And thank you for the prayers for my dad. He is going to be fine. He is still in the hospital for observation from his head injury. I saw the truck today and he is so lucky to be alive.

Need some prayers, please

2008-11-17T11:20:00.000-05:00

Whew. I haven't blogged in a week. Sorry guys. Time just kept getting away from me.

We really didn't do much all week. The Kid got a hair cut. I went to a baby shower on Saturday and a kid's birthday party on Sunday. We got a gas line hooked into our house because we are going to convert from oil. We went to the mall and saw Santa for the first time of the season. And that's about it.
Nursing is going well. Baby sleeping was going well, until we had about 3 nights of no sleep, but last night was good again. The Kid is doing great.
I have a ton of pictures on my camera that I need to download. I will try to get that done soon...but on to the prayers...

My dad was just in a car accident yesterday. He is ok, but has some head trauma. He was driving around a curve near his house (AA- near the municipal building in your town) and a car coming the other way took the curve too wide and my dad swerved to get out of the way and he hit a tree. His truck is totaled. He was doing ok last night. But he would be fine and laughing and talking and then zone out, but then be ok again. My step-mom and step-sis were there with him. They are talking about moving him to another hospital so I am waiting to see where he will be and try to go see him this afternoon. Unfortunately, this was the 2nd head trauma he had in a week. Last Wednesday he fell off a ladder at his house and went to the hospital and had a concussion.
Please keep him in your thoughts and if you pray, send up some prayers for him. Thanks.

Rude Awakening

2008-11-08T08:44:00.005-05:00

So the last week and a half the Baby has been totally sleeping through the night. No matter how much or how little he has napped throughout the day. Although, now that I have put it in writing he will immediately stop this.

Every night he will go down anytime between 8-10pm and sleep for 4-6 hours! Then he will get up, nurse (only on one side), I'll change his diaper (sometimes try the other side) and he will go down again for 4 more hours. The last 2 mornings he (AND the Kid) didn't get up until 8AM! How the hell did I get so lucky?? Of course, we do have one major problem....

This is where he sleeps.

This picture was on 10/27 and was a nap. At night we totally buckle him in and cover him with a blanket wrapped just around his legs, because he hates to have his hands covered if he wakes up and can't move around. Swaddling stopped at week 1.

What am I going to do when we move upstairs and his crib is all set up? I am sure the swing will follow us up there, but once he is mobile and the swing is just for play time and is no longer safe for him to be sleeping in while the whole house is also sleeping, oh boy. I have a feeling we are in for a rude awakening, literally.

Gator Time

2008-11-06T07:52:00.004-05:00

Some afternoon fun last week. The Kid rode to the park. It was such a nice day. He loves his little John Deere Gator that my in-laws got him for Christmas last year. Hubby finally took the lock off the 2nd gear on this thing and I couldn't keep up with him. I had the baby in a front carrier while we walked around the neighborhood. I had to bring him to the empty parking lot around the corner so he could zoom around safely.

And of course, no post is complete without a picture of the Baby too.

But I wanted the Natural Pearl anyway!

2008-11-05T10:40:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a busy busy day.

First we dropped off the Kid at school. Then we went over to the bath showroom and had to pick out a counter top for our new bathroom vanity. We already chose 'natural pearl' but they told us it was discontinued. So we went over so I could check out my second choice again 'peach'. I was so worried that it would be too pink. But it did match the tile perfectly...and the vanity is only 33 inches, so it wouldn't be that much peach in our little bathroom. I agonized there for 20 min and finally said f*ck it. Let's just get the peach. Hours later Hubby calls me and says that peach is discontinued too, but the factory does have a left over piece of the original natural pearl that I wanted. WTF? They couldn't have found that before?! ugh.

Then we headed over to the paint place. We had to pick up paint for the last 2 rooms. Our bedroom and the Kid's bedroom. I am very excited about the Kid's room. He has wanted a construction room for over a year. He has wanted it since we knew we were going to move and he was going to get his own room and could make it anything he wants. He originally wanted black across the room to look like a road. I was a bit skeptical, so last week I thought...why not brown? We can paint the bottom half of the room a nice brown like 'dirt' from a construction site and the top half a very very pale blue - the same blue that the Baby's room is going to be - to make it look like the sky. He liked it! So all the paint is picked. but....

while we were in the paint store the Baby was hungry, so I took him out to the minivan to nurse him. I took him out of the carrier and he was soaked!! I forgot to change his diaper before we left the house. The poor baby had a diaper heavier than him! And guess what? I didn't have a change of clothes! But, I did have the Kid's t-shirt in the car and a small blanket to cover his legs in my diaper bag.

Doesn't he look too cute in his brother's 3T shirt? LOL!

Next stop. Home to change the baby's clothes. We were in and out, then we headed over to my favorite consignment store to get my money from the stroller/infant car seat I dropped off there in August. I made $30! And I promptly spent $13 of it. That place is dangerous.

We then picked up the Kid from school and went to vote. We came home had some lunch and then I headed back out again with the Baby to my 6 week OB visit. This is what I really really wanted to talk about today, but all that other stuff happened that I just had to share. Here is the most important part of my day:

Weight at my 1st pre-natal visit (1/28, 6 weeks) 205 lbs.
Weight the day before I gave birth: (9/22) 225 lbs.
Weight at my 6 week post-natal visit: (11/4) 198 lbs.

I only gained 20 pounds in this pregnancy and I seriously lost 27 pounds since I have given birth!! Granted, 7 of it was pure baby, but still. I am so excited and so motivated right now.
I just got back from walking a local bike path. After I dropped off the Kid at school I walked 2 1/2 miles with the Baby in the stroller for 45 minutes!
Now I have to get my butt in the shower while the Baby is still sleeping in his carrier!

Still Undecided...added some more thoughts

2008-11-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

*This will probably be my only political post ever.*

How is this supposed to help me decide??

What am I going to do today?

I know so many moms that are for Obama and so many moms that are for McCain. I say moms, because that is who I am, and we are all in the same boat. They are all are passionate and have strong reasons why they want one over the other.

Personally, I am afraid of both sides. I feel this is another 'lesser of the two evils' election. This is a very hard decision that I probably won't share with you later. I am not one to start a political argument or talk politics much at all. I just can't stand the mud slinging and lies going around on both sides. I can't stand that people are voting for Obama because he is black or people that are not voting for him because he is black. And people are voting for McCain because he has a woman VP or not voting for him because of who she is. And many other things like that. I don't have a good idea of what the real issues are because they are too busy defending themselves all the time. ugh.

Part of me believes that it really doesn't matter who is the president. That he is just a figure head and the people with all the money really run the country the way they want it anyway. I have explored this website and it really scares the hell out of me. The videos are so intense and the ideas that are out there for the future of this country - no matter who the president is - are truly frightening.

If someone has a totally UN biased web site that I can see where they each canidate stand on issues and has FACTS about their past please post them! Or post who you are voting for and why...just on one issue that means a lot to you and made your decision.

This was a silly little quiz was just for fun to see if it could help at all. It didn't.

But I WILL vote. Because that is my duty...I just don't know who.

Your Issue Profile: 56% Obama, 44% McCain

Truth be told, you're not really satisfied with either of the candidates.
You could vote for either of them. You are the typical coveted swing voter.

You may want to narrow yourself down to a particular set of issues in order to pick your president.
Or start looking at third party candidates. One of them might suit you better.

Should You Vote for Obama or McCain?

Please leave nice comments or don't comment at all. I don't want this to become a political argument...just my crazy confused thoughts to words. Thanks! :) We'll be voting sometime after lunch after I pick up the Kid from school. We always take him to vote.

**I wrote this yesterday. Edited early this morning to add some more thoughts**

Super Cool Uncle

2008-11-03T08:00:00.001-05:00

This is about my only brother. He is 4 years younger than me and has been traveling the world for the last 4 years. He lived in Prauge in the Czech Republic for a couple years and only came home for Christmas. He has traveled all over Europe and educated himself by immersing himself into the cultures where ever he is. Most recently he has been to India, Cambodia and Malasia. He never stays in hotels. Hell, he never even makes reservations before he goes. He just hops on a plane and when he lands he goes off to find a place to stay, usually with the locals. He has even inspired our step-sister and cousins into traveling. Of course, none of them have any kids. LOL! Almost all been to Thailand and one cousin is now in Veitnam. I know there are more places, and when he gets back this Christmas I am getting a huge world map to hang on the Kids wall and start pinning where his Uncle has been. The Kid loves to hear and learn about different countries he has been.
Not quite sure where he is now. When the Kid slept over my mom's last week they got to talk and see each other on Skype on the computer. My mom got a camera for the computer just to see him. It was the highlight of the Kid's week!

I believe these pictures are in Malasia or Cambodia. I am so jealous. Tigers are my favorite animal and he got to pet them!

I also have a picture somewhere of him riding an elephant in India...but I'm not sure where that one is right now.

I am in awe of them and how they get to visit all these places and learn about cultures outside our little bubble that we live here in the US. Things are so different. It is so educational. I would love to travel. I only traveled out of the country 3 times in my life. Two were Spring Break trips, one to Cancun and the other was the furthest. A few friends and I went to Tenerife, a Canary Island with a day stop over in Madrid, Spain. That was an amazing trip. And the third was my honeymoon 5 1/2 years ago to St. Lucia. But we stayed at a Sandals, not quite roughing it.

Now our biggest trip we take is our yearly visit to Florida to the grandparents and an occational stop at the House of Mouse.

But I would never trade these guys in for all the traveling in the world. They have a very cool Uncle that brings back cool stuff and stories from all over the world for them.

Miss you Uncle D! Can't wait for you to meet your newest nephew!

Pumpkin Picking

2008-11-02T15:30:00.000-05:00

Last Monday Hubby and I took the boys to get a nice big pumpkin for carving. We went to a place that also has a petting zoo. They sell bags of sliced carrots for the animals and the Kid loved to feed them.

There weren't any good pumpkins there though. The field got wet from some massive rain and there were a lot of rotting ones. But we got a couple cute pictures.

So we went somewhere else that didn't have thier pumpkins on the ground. We found a nice one.
And another cute photo op.

The Kid wasn't too thrilled with scooping out the seeds!

I forgot to get an actual picture of this years carved pumpkin, and it's rotting already since we left it on our table in the warm house. Ooops.

The Morning After

2008-11-01T20:15:00.000-04:00

So here is the loot the day after Halloween. That doesn't even count the huge bowl that didn't get taken from the non-existent trick or treaters in our neighborhood. I really need to get my appointment for the dentist now.

Speaking of the dentist, how do you like the Kids new veneers? Oh and in both these pictures, can you tell he won't take his freaking eyes off the tv for me to take the picture?!?!

So, since it was over 70 degrees today and gorgeous. Seriously, I can't believe I was wearing a short sleeve shirt on Nov 1. I took the boys to the bike path and walked a slooooooooow mile and a half. It took over an hour to do it. But aren't they cute?

This was the beginning of the walk.

Daddy wasn't with us, so the Kid didn't have anyone to carry his trike and he was complaining for the last 3/4 of a mile that he little legs hurt. I told him we could turn around anytime, but he insisted we go as far as he and daddy did last week. Luckily we started a half a mile into the trail at a different parking lot so he didn't realize we cut a mile off, thank goodness. Daddy and he did that over two miles in over 2 hours last week. (There are markers on the path that give mile markers. It's the only reason I know how far we went.)

This was my view every time I turned around on the way back to the car. In case you can't tell...he is sticking his tongue out at me because I won't carry his trike...mental note, get the poor kid a two wheeler for Christmas. He was SO slow with those tiny little wheels. I barely was able to get a work out in.

DON'T FORGET TO TURN YOUR CLOCKS BACK TONIGHT!!

I am SO happy for an extra hour of sleep I could scream!

4 New Posts

2008-10-26T20:04:00.003-04:00

Make sure you scroll all the way down...

I posted 4 posts today just FULL of awesome pictures. These posts I had backed up waiting for time to upload all the pictures that I wanted to add. If you don't scroll down, you will miss them.

Enjoy! :)

Halloween Parades ... Past and Present!

2008-10-26T19:50:00.001-04:00

Today we participated in the annual Halloween parade that my hometown throws every year. We have been doing it for the last 3 years and just couldn't miss it, especially since the weather so freaking gorgeous today. It was in the upper 60's, maybe even the 70's. It was awesome.

Here is the run down of all the costumes the Kid has been to date:

1st: (3 months) He was a Dalmatian puppy that I made from scratch ... This was the only year we weren't in the parade. And this was the year before I had my digital camera...so I had to scan it in from a picture I have in a frame.

How much does the Baby look JUST like him?!?!

2nd: (1 Year, 3 months) I was a butterfly and the Kid was a bumble bee. I loved that costume. He even had wings. I bought silver angel wings and painted where the silver sparkles were black and covered the paint with gold sparkles before it dried. I pulled him in his wagon that was decorated with fall colored flowers. He won 2nd place in his age group for that one!

3rd: (2 Years, 3 months)I was a witch and he was my black cat. I decorated his wagon to look like a broom that he was sitting on. We didn't win anything, but it was so fun!

This was at a Halloween party. I didn't get a good picture of me at the parade. It was too cold and windy. My wig and hat kept flying off.

4th: (last year- 3 Years, 3 months) He was a knight in shining armor and his buddy was a dragon. We didn't plan that one at all! My friend decorated her wagon to look like a castle. They looked great!

This year: (Kid- 4 years, 3 months. Baby- 1 month) The Baby is a little pumpkin, I am an Indian with my little papoose pumpkin baby and the Kid is a cowboy. No wagon decorating this year, but I got a lot of "Is that a real baby in there??" LOL! And I actually had one woman tell me that I should have the Baby inside where it was warm! huh?? He was quite cozy and warm in my Hotsling.

Just got my litle pumpkin dressed and I got an adorable little smile.

That darn horse head he has had since his first Christmas. It bit the dust today. The head detached from the pole.

The Kid and his "Stinker" buddy...His buddy won 2nd place in his age group. (They are a year apart and in different age groups some years.)

I have NO idea what he is doing in that picture.

I know Pocahontas had a cool set of Maui Jim shades and Uggs. The view looking into my papoose. He slept the whole 2 hours!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Ride 'Em Cowboy!

2008-10-25T16:41:00.002-04:00

Today we went to a really nice little fall festival at the local convalescent center (old person's home.) They love to see all the little kids. I am sure many of them don't have family that visits and an occasional visit from kids just brightens their day. When the Kid was little we used to go to one that my Aunt works at every month. She is the activity director and she'd bring them all to the common room and the Kid would just sit in the middle of the room and play with whatever toy I brought for him. They got such a kick out of him.

This fair had a costume contest...so he was all decked out in his cowboy costume. He didn't win anything, but he still had a blast.

First he went on the pony rides...so fitting for the Sheriff

Then there was a petting zoo. And we checked out the ducks...

...and fed the goats

It was a nice day, but was really windy and started to rain while we were there. We went inside and the Kid decorated a pumpkin with stickers, trick or treated around the room, got a bat painted on his hand, got a sword made out of a balloon and had a hot dog, cookie and juice box. All for free. It was so nice. I had the baby in the Baby Bjorn, it is so nice to have hands free. :)

Hay Ride

2008-10-24T16:26:00.001-04:00

Yesterday we went on a hayride with a bunch of friends that we haven't seen in a long time. Mostly because we moved about a half an hour away from them all last February, but also since I was hibernating the last week or so of pregnancy and of course the last 4 weeks of the Baby's life.

The Kid picked a perfect pumpkin.

It was so wonderful to see them all again. It was the Baby's first hayride, and the Kid's 3rd year going to this same one.

Even Elmo and Shrek were there too!

Yep, we are back out doing things all the time again! The weather has been too nice just to sit in with a newborn. And how do you really stay in when you have a 4 year old at home. That just isn't fair to him to miss out on everything in such a fun season, just because he has a baby brother, right?

Just wait until my posts for the weekend. I know I am really posting 4 posts in a day and past dating them...I have had these posts written, but I was waiting on time to upload the pictures.

1 Month Old

2008-10-23T07:50:00.002-04:00

It seems surreal that my little baby is already one month old. These last 4 weeks seemed to last forever, yet they went so fast. Our nursing is doing much much better since he had his tongue clipped. I am so relieved about that. I had many nights crying, feeling guilty that I wouldn't be able to give him all goodness that I was able to give to his brother. And I was hoping I wouldn't have to pump full time. I felt so detached when I had to leave the room and go pump just to give him a bottle. It was so time consuming. But that is all over. Now, I just give a bottle occasionally because I want to not because I am in so much pain that I have to. Now it's for my own piece of mind and to sleep and for Hubby to have the baby for a while.

I went over to my pediatrician's office to weigh and measure the Baby. I checked out the Kid's baby book.... this is too weird.

The Baby (@ 1 mo, 1 day old) 8 lbs. 6 oz. 20 1/2 in.
The Kid (@ 1 mo, 3 days old) 8 lbs. 6 oz. 20 3/4 in.

I can't even remember the Kid being that small anymore. It goes so quick.

First Smile

2008-10-20T19:18:00.003-04:00

This is the first smile that I was able to catch on camera. He had a few smiles last week. I am so glad one was for my grandmother. She and my grandfather left for Florida yesterday morning and we miss them already.
These are from my phone since I was sitting trying to nurse and he was smiling at me. He knew what was coming...

The Kid is all better. He woke up Friday with no fever, and the spots in his mouth were gone by Saturday. He went back to school today, and the baby *knock wood* never got sick. I think it's going to be a long night tonight. The baby has been napping all day with a brief break to eat now and then. I can't believe tomorrow will be 4 weeks already! We'll be going on our first hayride on Thursday. Can't wait!

When it rains...

2008-10-15T16:11:00.006-04:00

It really pours.

So the Baby had his tongue clipped on Monday. It was horrible. I cried the whole time, but the Baby was just fine. He was given stuff under his tongue to numb it, so he really didn't feel a thing. It was the doctor holding his mouth open so he could actually clip the frenulum that made he cry. As soon as he was done, he stopped crying.

He was 3 weeks old yesterday. He is latching on a bit better. But the damage was done. I am still so sore, so it still hurts. But not as bad as it did...if he gives me a break and naps. This Baby is just cat napping and wanting to nurse SO often now.

On to the pouring part... yesterday when the Baby finally took a 2 hour nap and I was able to lie down for about an hour and get some rest. The Kid was watching TV in the living room. I woke up to him crying. I called his name but he didn't come into the bedroom, so I went out to him. I found him in the foyer with his pants around his ankles, crying because he had wet his pants. I went to hug him and he felt all warm. I got him in a shower to rinse off and cool off and then took his temp and it was 101.7. Later last night I took it again and it was 102.7. He didn't even remember me giving him a shower when I told Hubby when he got home from work. He was so delirious from the fever. We gave him some Motrin and hoped after a good nights sleep he'd be better in the morning.

Well, today he sounded like he was talking with a mouth full of saliva or like he just got out of the dentist and was slurring a little or something like that and still had a fever over 102. So I looked into his mouth and he had red spots in his mouth. So off to the doctor again. Even though the doctor took a strep test to see if he'd need antibiotics, it was exactly what I feared. The Kid has Coxsakie virus (Hand,Foot Mouth Disease). Friken wonderful. Luckily the spots in his mouth don't seem to be bothering him at all, I am hoping it stays that way and PRAYING that the Baby doesn't get it too.

Who needs help?

2008-10-13T10:25:00.003-04:00

I DID!

I was talking to a neighbor of mine about my nursing problems. She said she had the same problems with her son, who is also 4 like the Kid. But she didn't know why until she brought him to the dentist at 3 years old. She ended up quiting nursing at 6 weeks because the pain was too much for her. It turned out the dentist found that he had a short frenulum...also called a tongue tie.

I told Hubby about it and he remembered that one of his best friend's kid had that AND had it clipped. And another friend of mine said her son has a slight one, but not enough to be clipped. I never heard of that before and now in 2 days I knew of 3 kids that had it, so I started to do a little research online. It turns out that we have MOST of the signs of a short frenulum; pain throughout the nursing session, the frenulum (the little piece of skin under your tongue that holds it down) is really close to the tip, there is a small indent in the tip of his tongue, a white line across my nipple from where he was trying to nurse, but actually biting...the list goes on and on.

I knew from day one that something didn't feel right...but I, thinking I am an "expert" breast feeder and breast fed the Kid for 19 1/2 months, figured we could work through it and he'd learn how to latch better. Well, it wasn't the poor baby's fault, or mine. He couldn't get his poor little tongue over those bottom gums to nurse correctly so he really was just biting me.

I've been pumping around the clock to keep my supply up and to let the girls heal and to give him my milk and not have to supplement so much, so hopefully after our appointment at the ENT (Ears/Nose/Throat) doctor today the frenulum will be clipped (they do it right in the office for babies) and we can start re-learning how to nurse together.

I have been so heart broken thinking that I wouldn't be able to nurse my baby for the first year of his life. I was not enjoying leaving the room and sitting attached to a pump for 20 minutes at a time every 3-4 hours. I enjoyed nursing so much with the Kid and I didn't want to 'short change' the Baby. Plus...the economy being the way it is, I was just cringing at the thought of having to buy formula for the next year. Breast feeding is an unbelievable savings.

I guess the moral of my story is...even if you think you know what you are doing. Don't be too proud to ask for a little help. If I had gotten a little more help and actually told the lactation consultant at the hospital I thought something wasn't right instead of telling her about my over 19 months experience and that we'd work through it, this may have been taken care of in the hospital and I could have saved a lot of tears.

LLL

2008-10-10T10:26:00.002-04:00

Ooops, I forgot to link to LLL - Le Leche League. It's an international breast feeding support group.

To some they are a little extreme, but I went for a while before and after I had the Kid and it was a great support system and you can take out of it what you need and I never felt uncomfortable. I actually still have a very good friend that I met at a meeting over 5 years ago, she is now on her 3rd baby and her oldest daughter is good friends with my Kid.

I wanted to post a disclaimer about my walking last week! LOL! I was walking rrrrrreeeeeeeaaaaalllllyyyyy slow. Plus we stopped half way so the Kid could play on the rocks at the beach with Hubby and I sat and watched from the benches. Thanks for all the awe, but it really wasn't much. And the next day I walked about 20 min, slowly, and was beat. I haven't walked since. But plan to get into some sort of routine soon. I didn't want you guys thinking I was power walking 1 week post partum! ;)

Pump It Up

2008-10-10T09:45:00.002-04:00

Well, today is Hubby's first day back to work. I am not completely by myself, my grandmother came with me to drop the Kid off at school so I didn't have to carry the car seat down the stairs to drop him off. (She sat with the baby in the car.)
But, Hubby will be taking off tomorrow anyway! LOL! He has 2 guys coming to work upstairs and he wants to be here, plus he takes the Kid to his woodworking class. Then he is off again for 5 days starting Wednesday. :) There are some perks married to a cop with a nice schedule. But....my grandparents are going back to Florida on Saturday the 18th and of course Hubby will be working M-F the next week, so I really WILL be on my own.

My nipples feel like they are going to fall off. Baby and I have been having nursing/latching issues. So I have been pumping as much as I can to give them a break from what I like to call the baby jaws of death....serious tears here people. He is sleeping now, and instead of napping I have to go pump. Sucks. I am going to a LLL meeting on Wed, so I am hoping to get a little help before I have to call in a lactation consultant (at $150-$200 an HOUR!) I am hoping to get some help at LLL for FREE. I think it's his little tongue not coming out and covering his bottom gums and he is squeezing with his 'teeth'. I am NOT ready to quit.
He even slept from 9pm until 5:30 this morning (in his car seat - we were at my mom's last night) and that still wasn't enough rest for the nips. ugh.

Well, that's my quickie update of the week! ;)

Off to pump for this sweet little face...

2 weeks old

2008-10-07T08:44:00.005-04:00

I wish I could use my brain and form some complete thoughts and have the time to come on here at least every other day and give updates on how we are doing...but for those of you that have had a newborn in your home pretty much know how we are doing. He's eating, peeing, pooping, sleeping and crying. Yep, that pretty much it. So I am at least going to try to post here once a week.

2 weeks old

Still sleeping at 9AM this morning!

(And still has quite a cone head!)

If I had written something yesterday I would have told you how freaking exhausted I was. I only got 4 hours of sleep and one of those hours was sitting up on the chair after nursing and still holding the baby. Funny how you just know not to move and drop the baby. I did that SO many times with the Kid. (Not the dropping, just the sleeping in the chair.)

But last night changed that. I pumped about 2 oz for Hubby to give the Baby at around 9PM. Then he got him to sleep and the Baby didn't wake up until THREE AM! Wow. That was a nice stretch of sleep! So I got up and nursed the Baby and put him back down and it's now around 8:50 AM and he is STILL sleeping!! I know it's a fluke and tonight he will be back to feeding every 2 hours. I have no delusions that the Baby will be sleeping in 6 hour stretches again any time soon! LOL!

The Kid went to the Safari at Great Adventure with my MIL and SIL on Sunday. It was a nice quiet day here at the house. Of course, I wasn't able to nap. Every time I put the Baby down I had to clean up. We had my mom, step-dad, MIL, FIL and my grandparents here for dinner. All I had to do was clean up our stuff. My grandmother did all the cooking. They are leaving for Florida in a couple weeks and wanted to have a nice Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner since they won't see us until May, unless we go down there and visit during the winter.

On Saturday's the Kid is going to a kid's woodworking class with daddy. It is some nice bonding time for them and some quiet time for me. He has been an awesome big brother!!

Covered in paint from class.

And I have finished a post and it's 9:20...and the Baby is STILL sleeping, even though I went and took that picture of him at 9am and he flinched at the flash but still didn't wake up. My milk machines are starting to get full and sore!!

1 Week Old

2008-10-01T10:18:00.000-04:00

That's the Hubby and the Kid walking onto the beach in the background.

It's been a week. It seems like a year...but he's still so tiny.

Monday we went on our first outing to...where else? The beach! I walked about 40 minutes and felt great. The Kid was riding on his tricycle while daddy was chasing him. It was such a nice day.
And then yesterday we went to the boardwalk and the Kid got to go to the aquarium with daddy and my MIL. I went for another walk.

I am beat. The Baby has been up all night the last 2 nights. The poor thing has been nursing non-stop and has only pooped twice since we've been home. And once was just meconium. The last time he pooped was Sunday around 6pm. The doctor has been keeping a close eye on him and as of yesterday he had gained 2 oz since last Friday's appointment. So that's good. I am just praying for poop....soon. On the plus side I was able to pump one side for less than 5 min and got 3 oz. so I know there is milk in there! LOL! Now I can save that for daddy to give tonight so I can get a little more than 2 hours sleep.

He is falling asleep in my arms....the Kid is in school...gotta go put him down and get some shut eye.

Baby Pictures

2008-09-27T21:07:00.001-04:00

The Delivery - I can beat Domino's

2008-09-26T17:56:00.003-04:00

Thanks everyone for the congrats!!

That delivery was totally different than the Kid, it was unreal!! With the Kid it was 22 hours from start of contractions until he was out...this baby- 4 1/2 hours!

Seriously. I started some contractions around 5am. But they weren't bad, kinda like the Brax Hicks I had on Saturday. So I just went out in the living room to watch tv since I couldn't sleep. The Kid and Hubby got up just before 7 and by then they were getting a little stronger (but I could still talk through them) and a little closer together, so I called the doctor. By the time he called me back we were getting our stuff together and the Kid squared away to get to school they were super strong. I still thought we'd still have all day.

We left our house at 8am... there was a little traffic, so by the time we got to the hospital it was about 8:30. The nurse was AWESOME and was trying to get my blood work back right away to get me my epi...but it was too late. I was hooked up to the monitor at 8:42. She checked me and I was 5 cm. Dr G came in about 20 min later and I was 7cm!!!! And then my water broke and he checked again and he said I was ready to push. Hubby says I pushed for about 5 minutes and he was out (the Kid was an hour and a half!)

But, I am so glad I didn't get the epi. I was feeling great after and could walk around and wasn't as exhausted as I was with the Kid. I would never have picked an all natural delivery, but I survived. LOL!

This boy has a scream that is in the octaves that would piss dogs off!! And the Kid slept through the whole night!!! Thank goodness!

I will update with some more pictures soon.

He's here!

2008-09-23T11:12:00.003-04:00

Not but two hours after I got the text that she was on her way to the hospital, he's arrived!!

9:40 am, 7 lbs, 1 oz, 19 inches!

Mom and baby are doing fine!

On her way

2008-09-23T08:03:00.001-04:00

This is AndreAnna reporting that I just received the text message that she is on her way to the hospital with contractions!!

Send her good, quick labor vibes!

Still Pregnant part 4

2008-09-22T16:57:00.003-04:00

Everything is still looking good. Fluid? check. heart rate? check. NST (non-stress test)? check. My blood pressure? check.

Still 3cm and 90% effaced. That Saturday night of those darn Brax Hicks didn't do a thing to loosen that stuff up.

SO, here's where I am. IF I don't go on my own this week I will be going in at the crack of dawn on Friday morning to be induced at 41 weeks.

He is so nice and comfy in there. Why do my babies just don't want to come out on time? Am I going to have the boys that will live at home forever and I will never get them to move out?? LOL!

AA is still on standby for the txt messages I'll send her and keep you all updated for the big day. I'll even have my camera phone so I can send her pics! Stay tuned for cute newborn pictures...one of these days this week.

Made it through another night.

2008-09-21T07:46:00.004-04:00

I'm still home. Still pregnant.

Hubby actually went into work today. He works 5 days on and 5 days off and yesterday was supposed to be his first day back to work. He was off all M-F last week. He called out yesterday 'just in case' and he will be home tomorrow since we have another doctor's appointment, but he can't call out more than 3 days in a row without a doctor's note...and if I don't have this baby, he won't get one. So he went in. We figured it wasn't that big of a deal if I went into labor today. It's Sunday, all of our family is home and someone can take the Kid and someone can drive me to the hospital. Plus he could probably get to the hospital in about 45 min from work since it's Sunday and NOT the summer anymore (so he'd hit no traffic.)

Last night was kinda sucky though. I was on the couch watching tv and this baby just wouldn't stop moving, which made for a very uncomfy mommy. I was getting all random crampy (Brax Hicks) again really low when he was moving and I had to walk around the living room. It felt like he was spinning like a top. Hubby was watching my belly and was all freaked out. He thought I was doing something to make my stomach jump around. LOL! When he finally calmed down I went to bed and woke (for the 3rd time of the night) somewhere in the 4am range to a painful hip. I must have slept funny on my right side because now my hip hurts. ugh.

The Kid has been so amazing through all of this. He knows mommy can't bend over or sit on the floor and that the baby still isn't out yet. He kisses and hugs my belly and talks to the baby asking "When you come out baby?" And he has been great every time we leave him to go to the doctor and tell him we may be going to the hospital and then show up a couple hours later to bring him home, with no baby. He is just the best.

Baby Update - No Baby yet...

2008-09-19T12:41:00.007-04:00

Well, as you can see since I am not a lucky one that has a blackberry (seriously, SO jealous of thos eof you who do!!) I am sitting at home on the computer.

We did get to see a shadow of his little face on the ultrasound yesterday, which was so cool.
The fluid level is still in the normal range, low normal, but normal. Nothing they were alarmed about. And the weight, they say, will be plus or minus a pound away from 7.11!! Holy crap. This baby could be anywhere from 6.11 to 8.11 a pound or 3 pounds bigger than the Kid. Crazy. Wish that could be more accurate. At least he should be at least more than 6 1/2 pound, so I am happy about that.

So, because of the normal fluid and normal size of the baby the nurse practitioner left it up to me if I wanted to be induced. I really don't want to unless I need to, so I passed and see what happens this weekend. I go back Monday at 1:15 if I don't go over the weekend. They didn't check me internally yesterday, but will Monday and re-check the fluid. If the fluid goes down, since it is already on the lower normal end, I will probably go into the hospital Monday. Especially since my cervix has already been going on its own for almost 2 weeks. So it's all the waiting game. I HATE not knowing!! LOL!

Send some birthing vibes my way!

Go Comment w/Cass for a GREAT Cause!

2008-09-19T12:41:00.004-04:00

Please go over here!!! Cass started by donating $3 for every comment on THIS blog post and her husband's job and her mom have matched it and upped the amount to $9 a comment!! All the money will be going to breast cancer research!!! Please go over there and just drop her a comment. Tell her your story, tell her you came from here, tell her a good joke, tell her a great baby tip you have...it doesn't matter, just go over there and tell her you support her and am proud of her, like I am, that she is doing this! As of this post she is up to 45 comments....keep it going up! :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And yes, I am still here waiting for my sonogram appointment. I think if everything is still ok with him being nestled safely in my womb then I can hold out another week (NO more than that!) and wait. Mostly I have been more worried about where I will be when I go into labor and where the Kid will be. I have been too worried about childcare. It's amazing how much I worry about that. But I know I have my mom, my MIL, my grandmother AND my step-mom waiting in the wings and will drop whatever they are doing (even leave work) and come get him. I am not as crampy today and my back is a little better. So maybe my body is relaxing for the moment.
I also have an appointment scheduled for Monday for a non-stress test if I make it through the sonogram fine and through the weekend without going into labor. We are still in a holding pattern.

Q: Any baby yet?

2008-09-18T16:36:00.006-04:00

A: Nope, I'm still sitting here.

Although, I have been feeling a little crampy all day. Off and on. Nothing steady or really painful. And it's not my whole belly, just really low. So, who knows. I am hoping he comes along this weekend. If I am still crampy tomorrow when I go for my sonogram I may take my doc up on his offer to induce. I don't know. I am very wishy washy about the whole idea.

When I had the Kid I was 12 days late. I ended up going into labor on my own on a Monday night... about 22 hours later had him on Tuesday night, and I was supposed to go in and be induced that Wednesday morning. They did give me pitocin to move me along, but I was already on some pretty good meds after I got checked into the hospital so I really didn't know the difference.

Wish me luck and I will keep you posted! :)

Oh and "The Women" was a cute little chick flick. I think if it was a bunch of no-name actresses it would have been 'eh'. But because there were a lot of familiar faces it was pretty good. I wouldn't have paid for the movie though. (A friend of mine has a card that she can get 2 free tickets at that theater every Tues.) I would wait until you are home with some girlfriends and a few glasses of wine and some cheese and rent it for a girls night in.
The theater was PACKED! We were in the 2nd row. There was nowhere else that had 5 seats together. It was mostly full of women...there were a scattered amount of men that seemed to have been dragged there by their significant others...except for the two men that were sitting in front of us. That was pretty funny.
I was cringing a little at the birthing scene at the end! LOL!