A's Ears

You asked so I will try to answer as fully as possible without boring you to death. Baby A's hearing test did not go so well. We were taken into a room with a speaker placed on either side of us. I held him in my lap on a chair while sounds and movements projected from the speakers randomly. The only stimuli he responded to were the ones that could be seen. His little head didn't turn even the slightest bit when only noises were made. It made me sad, but I wasn't surprised.

After the brief test, the audiologist told me that while the results weren't great, they also weren't entirely accurate either due to his age. She took a peek into his ears and said the eardrums seemed to be working and so that was a good sign. The ENT (ear, nose, and throat) guy encouraged me to continue testing with more reliable information. The next step, I was told, is to have the ABR administered to him. Because of his age and inability to sit still for the procedure, he will have to be put under anesthesia. Of course, this is super scary for me. Initially, I said that I wasn't going to do that. The doctor then told me that there wasn't much else he could do for him so I asked him if he thought I should go ahead with the test and he said, "If it were my kid, I wouldn't hesitate to do this."

I thought about it on the drive home and the old saying knowledge is power was the message I kept returning to. If he does have hearing problems, he needs help now. We need to learn and teach him sign language, etc. No point in waiting.

So I suppose we're moving forward with this.

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.

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?

Health Goals-

Lovely Tuesday morning to all of ya! Today I'm blogging over at The Finish Line. I was excited that Becca allowed me to take over her space for the day to discuss the evolution of my own health goals. She is easily one of my very favorite bloggers and an awesome writer. I hope you'll go check out her page and leave some love.

I revisited this old memory and many others in the post:

Anyway, Cray K is banging on my belly and hanging on my elbow screaming. I must retreat! Until next time...

The End Is Near!

Ouch.

The bottom has dropped out. It's not like when I had Cray K. He had me in bed the last few weeks of my pregnancy due to hypertension. This sweet babe I'm carrying now has gone a little easy on me in that department. However, my intense back pain, BH contractions, and high heart rate make me wonder which side of the coin is worse. If there's one thing I want to be more mindful of from now on, it's my health. It's so easy to take it for granted until it's gone.

Tonight I woke up with acid reflux for the first time in my life. It's 3am as I'm typing and I've been up forever, trying to ignore the awful burning sensation in my mouth and throat. Oh, but there's an end in sight!

I went to the doctor today. If I haven't had Baby A in 9 days, I'll be induced! December 3rd is the big day which is doubly special for me because it's also my mom's birthday! Even though I know having two young kids over Christmas, during a move, and during our transition from military life to civilian life is going to be absolutely crazy, I still can't wait to meet my second little man. I look forward to looking into his eyes and battling with my husband over who he looks like most.

I really want my body back, too. Everything aches.

I've begun to lose weight which I didn't think was supposed to happen in the last weeks (and over Thanksgiving!) but I'm up about 35 lbs with this baby and the doctor isn't concerned. Thankfully, my blood pressure is pretty good this time around and I'm showing very few signs of preeclampsia.

All good news! I'll focus on that.

Perhaps these tums have finally kicked in and I'll be able to get back to sleep. Only 9 more nights to get a full night sleep, ya know. Wish me luck.

Thanks for putting up with my pregnancy posts-- especially the middle-of-the-night, complainy ones. The end is near! And I have a feeling that the beginning will contain loads of cute, squishy newborn photos. Just a guess.

One of these days...

...when I catch my breath, I'll post again.

It has been an interesting few days here in our household. As we try to get used to tending to the cutest kid in all the land, we're also still dealing with my blood pressure issues.

I've been in and out of the hospital. :(

And every little minute away from our new bundle of joy is not okay with me.

I mean, just look at this wrinkly baby skin-



You wouldn't want to be away either.

No school, no hospital, no nothin' can keep me from wanting and needing to be near him at this time.

So, please excuse me while I get back to it. Thank you all so much for your congratulations and well-wishes. I'll write more when life calms down. Until then, I could use some prayers. This bed rest/hospital admittance routine is no fun.

XOXO,

Mrs. K

Think yourself thin?

I come to you today with a brownie in hand to enlighten you on my perspective of America's overweight/obesity epidemic. (Yes, the brownie is all part of my plan.) I kid you not, all of the following scenarios have happened to me today and I've only been awake for about five hours-

1. On an online forum I participate in, one witty, intelligent, sweet young lady posted a thread called something like 'show me your tummys!'


2. I am in the habit of reading Psychology Today pretty religiously and I woke up to this topic this morning.


3. I'm currently tuned into Project Runway that is known for tall, slender, gorgeous models working with fashion designers.


4. I thought about all the media I've been bombarded with in regards to body image in just the last few hours so I go to the kitchen, pour a glass of milk, and grab a brownie to satisfy me while I step up on a bloggy soapbox.

What? I do have a reason for this brownie!

Do you see the problem here? America has become obsessed with all things diet, exercise, and healthy living but the problem is we don't actually follow through with all of it. We research it, decide 'that would totally work', and then we go get a brownie while we "plan" on changing our behaviors.

See, I'm only eating to prove a point ;)

Additionally, I realized I was very much a part of this thinking problem when I became annoyed that the Olympics meant that I couldn't watch Biggest Loser. What do ya mean- I should be excited about the Olympics?! hehe What does that say about our country that I would rather watch people try to lose weight than tune into see the world's greatest athletes?  Gah, I'm terrible.

Anyway...

Unfortunately, we can't think ourselves to thinness or health. We CAN, however, think our way to happiness. My mother has told me that my entire life and I'm pretty sure she's on to something! I think the two should be able to entertwine. Lord knows, I'm no advocate for healthy living, but I do know how to make myself happy.

Example number one-



But I also value feeling good about myself physically so when I start to not like what's staring back at me in the mirror, I try to do something about it. I think it's about that time again. Don't get me wrong, I've embraced my body but I would love to have that "in-shape" feeling again. You know what I'm talking about- I want to feel like I could take on anything, that I'm prepared for a summer in Alaska with my Army Ranger. I can barely keep up right now.

So here's my pledge. It's P90x time again! I'm going to Walmart this weekend, buying a video cable, and then I'm tackling that program again. The brownies are gone so there's no excuse now. Who is with me?