Thursday, May 30, 2013

He is a good man.

A large part of my role as a wife is to build my husband up. I'll admit, I'm not all that great at doing so. Over the weekend, I caught myself more than once questioning his intentions and voicing my annoyance out loud. For example, we were on vacation (and I use that term very lightly when traveling with small children) and we had planned on checking out of the house we were renting and driving back to Jacksonville. That morning, he decided he would go parasailing which would take multiple hours. That meant I would have both children in the car or in the sun or wherever I could find to take them and I was immediately frustrated that he wouldn't have thought of this inconvenience. I mean, I would have loved to go parasailing, too but we have children now that obviously can't partake in that activity. There are just sacrifices that have to be made. I was upset and questioned why he wasn't thinking of me when he decided to go. Instead of being frustrated, I should have probably just told him how I was feeling and then dropped it. I didn't want to ruin his good time...and I definitely didn't want him to think that his sacrifices for our family go unnoticed. They don't.
He is a good man.

He prays for us and with us daily. His prayers are heartfelt, detailed, and honest. He covers us in prayer for our health, happiness, and future. He desires these things for us; his words make it evident.
He goes to work to a job that is highly competitive and he spends his time with people who are unlike anyone he has spent the last ten years of his life working with. His transition from Army life to Civilian life has been seamless. He knows he is the provider of this family and he takes his role seriously. He is motivated and ambitious.
He joins me in hobbies I enjoy. Just yesterday, we went on another family run. He pushed me to finish strong by encouraging me to sprint the last half mile. The day before, I ran the fastest 5.5 miles I have ever done in my life and it was all because I was trying to keep up with him. When we got home, he hurried inside to fix me a water.
Little things like that mean so much to me and I just don't tell him enough. My husband is a good man- let me shout it from the rooftops!

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Youth is Wasted on the Young

Do you feel young? Me? I guess it depends on the day. Put me with my running partner and I feel really young. I know I can keep up with her. She's barely legal to drink, runs marathons, and is in a very different stage of life. She bounces around as we jog like it's no sweat to her to run across our entire state. She doesn't tug at her running gear or clothes, hoping everything is in the right place. She just shows up to feel her body do something it's meant to do (be active) and isn't worried about losing weight. She nonchalantly chats with me as I try intensely to focus on my breathing. Still, I leave with a proud feeling, knowing that I just ran with someone that was still in high school after I had long graduated from college.
As soon as I am home, though and the chasing of babies commences, I am catapulted into a world where twenty seven feels old. My back aches. I try to practice yoga with my oldest son and I find it incredibly difficult. Meanwhile, K is soaking it all in and trying what I try. He'll be better at it than I am in no time. My wrists give me a hard time and I find myself wondering what it must be like to have the flexible, durable limbs and joints of my almost two year old. Then I wonder how different it will all be in just five short years. 
As I get older, I'm becoming more and more appreciative of the body I do have. I think it's important to recognize my own strengths and play off of them. You're never too old to start being more active and intentional in life. Who says you're too old for a handstand on the beach? Who cares what anyone might think? I'm going to enjoy the youth I have left in me (By the way, I think we all have some youth left in us)!
Never stop changing, never stop growing.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Long Weekend



We've had a lot of great Memorial Day weekends and this past one was another for the books! I figure I'd better blog about it before I forget what all we did. This should probably be in a numbered format, too. My to do list is too long for a well worded post. You understand.

1. My cousin got married in beautiful Siesta Key! She was lovely (as always) and I wish them the very best marriage has to offer. Please join me in prayer for Micah and Jordan as they start their lives together. I'm oh-so-happy for the two of them.
Photo by Andie Whisman

2. I got to see my family briefly and that, my friends, is good for my soul. It had been over half of Baby A's life since I laid eyes on them so it was good to soak up the less than forty eight hours of family time with some of the coolest people in all the land.
3. Pool time. Baby A had his first pool experience. He loved it. Snoozing and floating is the life!

4. My sister and her husband came up to Jacksonville after we left Sarasota and were able to hang out for awhile longer. On Sunday, we drove to our nation's oldest city to explore. J and I go to St. Augustine quite a bit, but we had never walked around the town on foot. It was nice to see all the old buildings. It's a lovely place!




5. Monday was Memorial Day. We always try to make it a happy day despite the somber thoughts that flood my veteran's head. It must be surreal to have served next to fellas who didn't make it back from deployments. In an effort to recognize how grateful I am that Captain J did come back, I always hold that day to high expectations. Honestly when I do that, I'm usually disappointed...but this time, I was not. We had the most pleasant evening we have had in a long, long time. We packed up the boys and headed off to a picnic at a new beach. Y'all...it was so perfect. No one was there. There were a few people around at first, but they quickly left and we had the whole beach to ourselves. I've never seen a beach like that in Florida. I loved it! We ate food from Zoe's Kitchen and watched our boys play happily. It was so laid back and I didn't have to hurry off to the car to feed Baby A because I could just nurse him right there on the coast without having to worry about the cover blowing up or blowing in his face. Relaxing times do not come often in our family, as you can imagine, so this one was cherished.










I hope your weekend was equally as awesome.

XOXO,

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Fitness Progress & Goals






Hey, fit friends. Tuesdays are the days I like to weigh in and track my fitness progress. KTJ created a bloggy wide 5K that we're all preparing for on June 1st. Are you doing it, too? Link up today and tell us how your goals are progressing.
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As far as running goes, I'm doing well. You may remember that I made this my main fitness goal for May:
I haven't had a chance to go running today, but after my run yesterday I was up to 65 miles so far. It may not be that impressive to a lot of you, but as someone who really never enjoyed running this is incredible to me. I look forward to running now and I'm proud to be completely drenched in sweat by the end of a long run. Sure, I've done half marathons before but there's something about the atmosphere of a race that will give you the push to finish- it's something else entirely that gets you up off the couch every day to go for a run when no one is standing on the street cheering you on. In the last week, I have broken my 5K and 10K records for time:

Fastest 5K: 28:30
Fastest 10K: 1:08:29



I know, I know. It's not that fast but I'm still proud. Plus, I totally plan on crushing that 10K record by the months end.

Weight: Ehh, I've gained a pound since my last weigh-in. I think it's because I love food too much. Eating clean is delicious. It really is. But when my husband brings home cookie dough to make me happy who am I to not indulge? My problem is when I cheat, I cheat big. I suppose that pound gain could be gained in muscle, but either way I'm not too worried about it. I know this is a process. I would still like to lose 3 more pounds. I'm at:

123 lbs right now.

Progress/Definition: I'm trying to tone up and feel good about myself. I document my progress on Instagram using the hashtag- #mrskgetsfit I love posting photos there because it is encouraging for me to look back and see changes in my body in just a matter of weeks. I know it is motivation for other people, too. I'm seeing results with my stomach and am working toward defining my shoulders and back now. I'm not a fan of my backside but hopefully in a month or two I will start noticing that my hard work is paying off!

Overall: I'm happy to be an example to my boys that staying active is so important. I hope we have many years of playing outside, appreciating good health, and working at staying fit together. I'm so blessed that God has given me two legs with which to run wherever I please! How often I used to take that for granted.

 Anyone else doing 100 miles in May? How's it going for you?

Monday, May 20, 2013

Ants in the Pants

I'd rather hoped I wouldn't be writing this post today or ever, really. Alas, here it is. My parenting fails will be on display for the world to see as soon as I hit publish.
This weekend wasn't a good one for my little tykes. Allow me to explain...
I have two boys who cried wolf. One is really, really the boy who cried wolf while the smaller one only is when he's in the car. I've never had children who enjoyed a good car ride. That's a mystery to me. Anyway, usually Baby A will freak out in the car, screaming very loudly and then he'll be inconsolable for (what will feel like) hours. Lately, though, he has been drifting off to sleep in the car which is a welcomed change. Imagine my delight when he fell asleep on the way to the park on Saturday. I was happy because that could free me up to play with K and J swing. We got to the park, kept Baby A in his car seat, sat him down next to the gate around the park and began to swing as Cray K made friends with some other kids at the playground. 


Baby A slept sweetly for most of the time, but as we began to leave he was waking up. By the time we had trekked across the parking lot, he was angry. By the time the car started up, he was frantic. Again, this was nothing new so we thought, "He just doesn't like the car. He'll calm down when we get out." Wrong.
We attempted to sit down at a restaurant to eat after that but our sweet, easy baby was still pretty unhappy so we ordered to go and the kids and I went out to the car to wait on the food. I put Cray K in the back of the jeep so he could play instead of sticking him in his car seat and making him cry, too. I got out some crayons and a coloring sheet and he played happily for a few minutes. Meanwhile, I'm finally getting Baby A to calm down in my arms. He stopped crying and actually seemed pleasant. Then, a gust of wind, took K's coloring page up, up, up. Always on my toes, I tried to react quickly to retrieve it. I suppose my spatial awareness was off-kilter because when I turned, I whacked poor Baby A's head on the tail light. It made a loud sound and my youngest crunched up his face in the adorably cute way he does and began his slow-to-start wail. I felt hopelessly terrible. K's art work was gone and now I had harmed this tiny second-born child in my arms. Baby A quit crying pretty quickly, there were no red marks or even a bump, and he was acting fine so I pushed the incident from my mind.
We arrived home with food in hand and we decided we would do a little fishing in the backyard pond. 

Before going outside, I remembered I should probably change the little one's diaper. I went to take it off and what did I find? A single black ant. But the rash and bumps on his legs told a different story. It looked like a whole colony of ants was living in his diaper. His little thigh was so eaten up that grief washed over me. I feel absolutely awful for listening to his cries (of pain!) and not thinking much of it. Poor baby had ants in his pants (I would show you a photo, but it would just make you cry).
I guess he got it from me sitting him down in his car seat on the ground. Mom of the year.
Then?
Sunday K's little shoulders turned a pinky hue in the afternoon sun. We were out for such a brief time, I didn't think he would need any sun block.

My sweet boys. I totally failed them this weekend.
I'm sure glad they won't remember! ;)
As always, there were good parts to the last few days, too. J finished up his MBA this weekend so of course we had to celebrate! I'm so proud of him for diligently working on his degree while he parted ways from the Army, job searched, and obtained a great, competitive job. He has been working hard for this family and I'm so grateful God has blessed us with a man like him. Good work, babe!
In celebration, we took a short trip to the beach and REI, our happy place.

 Then afterward, the boys slept so I could go on a run. I decided to do a "ruck run" to the grocery store because we needed a few things. I posted a photo on facebook and got a lot of responses- "What's a ruck run?" Chances are if you're husband is or has been a military man, you know what I'm talking about. In the Army they do "ruck marches" in which they pack and weigh their ruck sacks down and march or run for miles and miles in their ACUs and combat boots. I have a whole new respect for them. Whew! I think they weigh their backpacks down with the equivalent of what supplies they would need to survive to practice for situations in which that would be important. I suppose I could be making that up, though. What do I know? Anyway, here's my much lighter "ruck":
I also only did three miles. Still, I felt like a beast!
Then, I totally canceled out all those calories burned by indulging in a deliciously fried meal. My husband continues to impress me with his cooking endeavors. Yesterday he made crab cakes, hush puppies, and cole slaw. 
Delicious.
How was your weekend? This is the part where you can feel free to tell me your parenting fails, too.


Tuesday, May 14, 2013

I'm Glad There Are Cookies


When I'm stressed, I eat. Something gets hard? I'm all- where are the cookies? The wine? Need them..like now.
Unfortunately, I have indulged in both this evening. I'll let you in on a dirty secret about me...
While I love having the opportunity to stay at home with our boys, I don't love every single moment of my day. I get so incredibly jealous of J who gets to leave the walls of this house dressed in actual clothes, interact with other adults, and go on lunches and run other errands that he needs to do kid-free. I can't tell you how much that makes me jealous. Of course, there's another side to that argument, but you can spare me. I already know it. I've heard it...and I get it. 
The thing is, I have very very little time to myself. Moms, you know the drill. I don't get to shower in peace. Forget going to the bathroom without a toddler running in yelling "pee pee" and flushing before I can even stand up. Sorry for the visual. The point is that I'm an introvert and I crave alone time. As much as I want these cookies that are in my kitchen, that's also my desire to just be alone FOR THE LOVE.
I get so discouraged. I'm trying to change my life by eating healthier and exercising. Some days, I feel great, but others days (like today) I completely derail my progress by stress eating. I also didn't get to workout or run for as long as I would have liked. The babes' naps only coincided for about 20 minutes so I didn't get a long workout there. Then in the evening I went for a run with both of them in the stroller, but after two miles they were ready to quit. I suppose I could be attempting another workout right now, but after the night I just had, it's a miracle I'm not curled up in the fetal position! I'd love to shower, but I'm desperately afraid of waking one of them up after they both took turns crying for over an hour.
I'm complaining too much. I don't mean to. I have a great life. But for when I do get discouraged, I'm glad there are cookies.

(P.S. Here's the 20 minute workout I did. I was surprised at how it smoked me in such a short amount of time!)

Five Months


Dearest A,


 You'll forgive me, won't you? I let a month go by without writing. Your fourth month went by so quickly and you are now five whole months old. Every parent says it, but you truly are growing so fast. You continue to be the sweetest baby boy! You love looking at your older brother and laughing at the silly things he does to entertain you. Your favorite way to be held is the "adventure position" so that you can see everything that is going on. Sometimes I wear you to the grocery store or K's gym class or to the park and you are completely content. You'll fall right asleep if you so please and it scares me every time because K certainly never did anything like that. I always think something is wrong!

Nursing is going well, but you are getting wiggly. You kick and squirm and smile and coo. It's unbelievably precious. YOU are unbelievably precious. We still haven't started you on solids either. Maybe I'm a slacker, but I just can't decide if I want to go the Baby Lead Weaning route or if I should break out the Baby Bullet again like I did with your brother. You are thriving very well on mama's milk for now so I'm not too worried. I'll decide soon.

You are still sleeping by our bed at night. You're a pretty good little sleeper! You recently started sleeping twelve straight hours and it has been amazing. The last few days, however, you've been waking a lot more thanks to a yucky cold. I hate to see you sick. Still, you're pretty smiley throughout the day and still a joy to be around. I love you so much, Baby A. I can't imagine our family without your sweet cheeks and cute little smile. Keep on keepin' on.


Love,
Mama

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