Running Post-Baby, Part II

So I wrote several months ago about how surprised I was at the difficulty I had adjusting back to running post-baby. It took me a while to get my mileage up and speed down - much longer than I expected. All in all, I think 9 months in 9 months out was probably a pretty fair assessment though. I'm finally pretty much back to where I was pre-Samuel, and that's a good feeling!


I ran my second half-marathon last weekend, and I did it quite a bit faster than my first two years ago. Admittedly, the circumstances were much different this time around. The race did not start an hour late and I had water the whole way and running buddies to keep me motivated. The situation was definitely better than the last time I ran.

The only negative was that Eric was working, so I had to leave Samuel in the child care. He did fine, but I worried the whole time about how he was doing and if I would be feeling well enough to take care of him afterwards. I think that kept me going slower than I would have for the first several miles. (And this is definitely TMI, but as a nursing mom, my milk totally let down around mile 11. THAT was a weird feeling!)

It was SUPER helpful to have my training buddies with me. I lagged behind on some of the hills, but seeing them ahead of me gave me the motivation to speed back up and catch them, something I may not have done otherwise.

Anyway, it took me right at two hours to finish the course (two hours and four seconds. I was both thrilled and annoyed!). When I finished, I felt like I had to keep moving for the next 10 minutes. Every time I tried to stop, I couldn't breathe. I guess my body just got in the running groove? Anyway, I finally cooled down and un-froze the hand that had been carrying my water bottle (it was a pretty wonky color for a while). It felt good though, and I was able to sprint and the end and generally feel way better than I did at the end of my last race. It's nice to feel good when you're done!

I did sleep pretty darn good that night though!

Anyway, I'm hoping this spring I can really start working on my times some more. I was really getting into a good groove last year when I got pregnant and had to slow down. Hopefully this is just the start of a new, faster Christie! We'll see... :-)

Turkey Day + Thankful List 2013

Thanksgiving was definitely different this year. We've spent several Thanksgivings here in Winston now. A few were spent with friends, a couple by ourselves. This is the first time, however, that Eric's had to work on Thanksgiving. All. Stinkin. Day (6 am-7 pm. Boo). I was pretty disappointed when I found out he had to work, though I should have been expecting it. It just doesn't feel much like a holiday when you're home alone with a baby and everything is closed so you can't go anywhere.

Thankfully, I had a few friends who were in the same boat (darn hospital!) who came over to hang out with us Thanksgiving morning and watch the parade/eat cinnamon rolls. Instead of having a sad morning feeling sorry for myself and missing my husband and family, I got to enjoy time with new friends and old, visiting and laughing (and watching my kid learn to walk!). It was really nice. :-)

Then the afternoon was, of course, spent cooking. I made way way way too much food. It was really fun, though, and we all enjoyed a nice dinner when Eric finally made it home. Our dinner looked something like this:

I just got a little three pound turkey breast. I've done that the last few years, and it always turns out really moist and delicious and gives us just enough food for that day + two sets of leftovers. I kind of do my own adaptation of things, but I've generally followed the guidelines on this website and my turkey has turned out great every time (including when I've made a full-sized one).

I also made roasted maple-glazed sweet potatoes, potatoes au gratin, dressing (okay, that was just a pepperidge farm mix + some celery and onion, but still good!) and my (almost famous?) corn casserole, plus some gravy, rolls, and a chocolate pie for dessert.

Even Samuel enjoyed a little of everything! Except the pie. No pie for babies.

Anyway, it ended up being a really nice evening. I originally planned on going out Black Friday (Thursday?) shopping that night, but by the time we finished eating and cleaned up, all the stores were already well past opening. I opted to just go Friday morning with Sam-Man. It was super cold, but I actually had a lot of fun getting him out to check out the deals. People are a lot nicer on Black Friday when you have a baby too. Just in case anyone was wondering. ;-)

Anyway, 2013 has been a HUGE year and I have more to be thankful for than I can actually begin to list here, but here's the top 10 thankful list for 2013 (okay, maybe just the first 10 that come to mind)!

1. As always, I am forever thankful for Christ, for His sacrifice, for the freedom that we have in Him. I can't imagine who or where I would be without Him guiding me!

2. I'm so thankful for Eric! He has always been an amazing husband, but this year he has gone the extra mile in being there for me as I finished out my pregnancy, gave birth to our sweet boy, got up countless times in the middle of the night and dealt with learning how to be parents. Not mention him interviewing and matching for residency, finishing medical school, and starting the hardest job he'll ever have. He's been amazingly strong and supportive through all of it, and I am SO grateful that He's mine!

3. Of course I'm thankful for my sweet little Samuel. He's brought more joy to my life than I could have ever imagined! He's funny and loving and such a ham... not to mention a great sleeper! :-) I love him to pieces!

4. Our families. Even though we live far away, we've still gotten to see them a lot all things considered. I'm so grateful to have two sets of God-fearing families who are understanding of our crazy life.

5. Eric's job. It's kind of a love-hate thing, but I really am so grateful that Eric has a good job that he enjoys, even if the hours are ridiculous. And I'm so grateful that his working has allowed me to (for the most part) stay at home with Samuel this year. I'm also glad that it caused us to stay in Winston, because, even though I didn't think that's what I wanted, I can't imagine living anywhere else right now!

6. My (little) job. It's not much, but I feel like working a few hours a week has done a lot to maintain my sanity. It's really crazy how everything worked out, too - I didn't go seeking this. God just provided a job, a great preschool all in one fell swoop, reminding me that He really is in control! :-)

7. Our church (and freedom to worship there)! Calvary is not at all what we were looking for in a church when we moved here four years ago, but I'm so glad it's where we ended up! I'm grateful to have a place where we receive sound biblical teaching and encouragement and have friends to share it with.

8. Skype/Face Time/iPhone. As mentioned before, our family lives a long way away. I'm so glad we have technology that we can still see each other and they can watch our sweet boy grow!

9. Our house! Once again, buying our home was a 100% God thing. I had a long list of things I wanted in a house. Things I didn't really think we would find in Ardmore in our price range. But we found our house, and it had every.single.thing. It may be small and it's not very fancy, but I love it and I love that it's ours. (I also love that I found out after we moved that the landlady we considered signing another lease with was NUTS. Dodged a bullet there)!

10. Running/Health. I'll combine these two together. I'm so grateful to have had 26 (almost 27 - eek!) healthy years and that I've been able to run/get back in shape after having Samuel. A few minor health issues this year have reminded me that I seriously take for granted all that I'm able to do!

And I'll go ahead and add one more too... 11. Friends! Where would I have been this year without all of our sweet sweet friends, new and old? Helping after Samuel was born, encouraging us as new parents and with new jobs, watching our kid so we could have date nights, being there when we were thrilled and disappointed and dealing with so much change. We are so grateful that, even though our family is far away, we have such wonderful people to share our lives with!

Okay, this post is long enough. I'll add pictures later. Happy very belated Thanksgiving!

10 Months (And Walking)

So I officially have a toddler now. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'm really excited that baby boy is starting to walk, but I'm also really sad to see my sweet teeny baby go, especially since he's toddling so young!

Samuel turned 10 months old on Thanksgiving. Two days prior, he decided to take a little step while we were face timing with my MIL. The next day, three or four steps. By the time Thanksgiving morning rolled around, he decided it was time to go big time. I had a few girls over to visit and watch the parade since doctor-hubbies are stuck at work on holidays. I looked into the kitchen where the kids were playing, and there's my child, walking toward me. What?!? He walked from the doorway almost to the end of our dining table, so probably a good 6-8 feet on his own. Everyone probably thought I was crazy when I got up and started screaming like a nut! He was SO proud of himself. I loved loved loved seeing him so happy.

He's been practicing a LOT since then, usually taking around 5-10 steps at a time. He likes to walk until there's something he REALLY wants (the cat, perhaps?). Then he just crawls away since it's way faster. He has gotten WAY better at standing alone, sometimes standing for 2-3 minutes playing with a toy until he decides to walk or just get down. I'm constantly amazed that this is the same kid who six months ago couldn't even roll over.

I'm pretty sure he had a growth spurt of sorts last week as well. Friday through Monday he would not. stop. eating. He still nursed five times a day like always (one being a bottle), but he ate for almost twice as long every time. He went cray cray on some solids. We went to eat japanese food on Sunday, and I'm pretty sure he ate more of my hibachi chicken than I did. Thanksgiving leftovers? Yeah, those mostly went to Samuel. And suddenly I noticed he felt heavier. And he couldn't fit under the table anymore (his favorite place to practice walking). I don't know if kids normally have a 10 month growth spurt, but this one definitely did!

Anyway, outside of our most exciting 10-month development, Samuel is still doing really well. He has crazy amounts of energy, but I guess that's normal (especially considering his gene pool. Haha). He sleeps like a champ. We usually try to do two naps a day, but occasionally our busy-ness pushes us down to just one. He usually recoups the next day though with an extra hour or so.

We STILL have no new teeth to speak of. It's been four months since he got his first two. The doctor seemed relatively unconcerned since E and I were both late-teethers. Still, it's a little weird, especially since he's a toothless walker. Haha.

Samuel's getting really good at playing ball with us. Occasionally he'll still just bring the ball to us instead of rolling it, but he's getting the hang of it. He loves to flip his lip and make silly noises. He talks to himself (or us?) constantly, though we have yet to be able to decipher anything. I do think his "ma ma ma" may mean "more more more" in some instances, but I could be totally off there. I try to do sign language with him, but so far he hasn't responded to any of it. I'm going to keep trying though!

Really I think the only issues we've had with Samuel lately is just his temper tantrums. He does NOT like it if we're eating and he's not, and he lets us know it. (This includes when the food is GONE, btw). He also knows how to throw a pretty good fit if I take something away from him. He's even (unintentionally) scratched me several times and left some bruises with some headbutting. This kid knows his mind, that's for sure. I'm still a little lost on what to do in those situations since he's still so young. So far I've just been saying no and telling him that's not nice and sticking to my guns about my decisions. I don't know if I'm really ready to be a toddler mom though.

Despite the occasional tantrums, Samuel is overall an extremely happy, fun, independent kid. He loves other people but is happy to play alone. He always seems to act like a dream baby when he stays with anyone else. And, really, the majority of the time he's an amazing baby for us too (though I definitely am NOT ready for another one yet)! I've been so blessed with his easy-going nature. I just hope I'll have the wisdom to parent him well
now that the real work is beginning!