A day in the life . . . post

Well I have seen some of these posts in blogs I read, so I thought I would do one myself.  Here is what Tuesday looked like for me. 

4:15am - Aidan wakes up crying.  I go to feed him and put him back down to sleep.
5:52am - My alarm goes off.  Don't ask me why I set it for such random times.
6:01am - My alarm goes off again.  Oops.  I typically don't hit snooze because I know Adam gets woken up every time it goes off.  I jump out of bed, grab my running clothes and hit the bathroom to change. 
6:10am - I am out the door (yep, 9 minutes, I don't mess around).  I have my gear and I am headed for a nice solo run.  I plan to do around 6 miles and do a nice and easy run. 
6:11am - Didn't know this at the time, but Aidan woke up when I shut the door.  Oops again.  Sorry babe for that one.
7:00am - Back from my run, I walk in to hear everyone is already up and moving.  Hope has a light that comes on at 7:15am, which means she is supposed to stay in her room until then.  Guess Aidan woke her up so the likelihood that I will get to do abs and push-ups is slim.   I run into the kitchen to start making bread.

 I decided homemade sourdough bread would be a nice teacher gift for Hope's preschool teachers as well as the co-directors at the school.  Each bread takes 3 hours so I have to get started if I want to finish today.  I get the first one in the bread machine and head upstairs.  Adam gives me a look that says I hope that was the best run of your life because the kids are up and have been and I am tired.  I tell him it was an amazing run and thank you for handling the home while I was gone. :)  I change everyone's clothes, diapers, etc. and head back downstairs.  I have a big water to drink after my run, and now the coffee is made.  Yum!  I typically drink 2 cups.  I decide to do smoothies and sourdough toast (bread I made on Sunday) for breakfast.  Everyone loves smoothies, but Hope usually doesn't finish hers.  Aidan on the other hand, would probably kill hers as quickly as he finishes his.  Mine is a green monster smoothie with kale and vanilla protein powder for some extra protein.  I made toast, half with Earth Balance butter, and half with the rest of the (my version) of the kitchen sink nut butter. 

8:55am - Aidan is down for a nap, and I have loaded the kitchen table with markers, paper, and coloring books.  But before we can start any coloring, she reminds me that she needs "tail nosh" (toenail polish for those of you who don't speak Hope).  I run and grab the polish and give her one coat of presto pink.  It's perfect because now she will be busy coloring and it will give her toes time to dry.  I decided to have Hope draw and color a picture for the Udi's Let's Doodle Lunch Sandwich box. 

It's also good because I am in the kitchen cooking up a storm.  Since I don't work on Tuesdays I usually spend a significant amount of time in the kitchen.  I have a lot on my plate in terms of cooking today, but we will see how much gets done.  Bread #1 is still baking.  Next, I soaked some adzuki beans the night before, so now I have to cook them for an hour, give or take.  And of course, I have to restock my kitchen sink nut butter so I start roasting my nuts.  I continue to go back and forth, helping Hope out and managing my tasks in the kitchen.  After my beans cooled, I made this little ditty from Scott Jurek's interview on Runner's World. 

Check out her picture! 

I was so impressed she stayed inside the lines so well (yes, I helped her outline the rainbow and the flower.

11:00am - Aidan is up and changed and we head out to the park (and of course I started my second loaf of sourdough bread).  Now you would think things would be a time I could sit down for the first time since 5:52am, but it's not if your son climbs likes mine.  He is a crazy climber.  I am constantly over him making sure he doesn't go head first down something too steep.  After about 40 minutes of climbing and swinging, we have a quick snack (banana and water to share) and head to the grocery store.  We usually alternate going to the farmer's market and the grocery store once a week.  This week it's the grocery store.  I grab a cookie from the bakery for Hope and then try to work like a mad woman to get through the store before anyone has a meltdown.  We obviously get most of our produce at the farmer's market and then just refill at the grocery store, but mostly get the things we can't get at the farmer's market (think laundry detergent, garbage bags, etc.).  Sometimes the variety is just better at the grocery store, like my almond milk. 

1:00pm - We are home.  I throw all the bags in the kitchen and immediately start working on making lunch for everyone (I for one, am starved).  The kids had avocado dip, Kashi crackers, shared a pear, and pirate booty.  I had a big spinach salad with chickpeas, red bell pepper, broccoli, and homemade croutons and more water.  I put away the groceries after lunch, and the kids played together in the playroom (it's the living room which is not far from the kitchen).  After the kitchen is cleaned up for the second time, I head to the playroom to join in on the fun.  We usually play until Aidan shows signs of being tired.  This happens at 2:35pm.

2:55pm - Aidan is down for his second nap, Hope is in her room playing quietly, and I am ready to fold some laundry.

It's really hard to fold Aidan when Aidan is around.  He throws everything I fold, so it's best for me to sit down on the floor when no one is around.  I usually put on the tv and watch something OnDemand.  Today I decided on last week's Revenge.  I have really cut down on everyone's tv time in the house (myself included) so this is the first time the tv has been on all day.  I watch my 48 minute show (thank you for limited commericals) while I fold laundry and read a few blogs.  I also start my 3rd loaf of bread, and start prepping dinner, a bean salad inspired by this recipe I found on Whole Foods website that uses adzuki beans (cook them once, use them twice is my philosphy). 

4:00pm - Hope's light is on in her room, she is done with her quiet time (she naps maybe once or twice a week now, not everyday like before) and Aidan is up.  I take the folded laundry upstairs and put it away while the kids hang out in Hope's room.  Then we decide to hit the backyard with the kiddos and play with our water table. 

Really, I am now hoping to sit down for 5 minutes and relax.  Of course, I have 15 pages left in my current book, and I am dying to know how it finishes.  I also had marinated some chicken for Adam and decided to surprise him and actually grill it.  So since we were outside and he never makes it home in time for dinner, I could cook it early. 

5:45pm - Dinner is served.  Bean salad and corn for me and the kiddos, Hope had a little of Adam's chicken.  Sparkling water to drink.  Last bread is in the machine.

6:20pm - Decided that Hope needed a special treat for her picnic at school tomorrow so decided to make Muddy Buddies mix.  And it could serve as a little treat for tonight too. 

7:00pm - Hope breaks a snow globe which take sme 20 minutes to get all the glass cleaned up.

7:20pm - Upstairs for bath.  Adam calls to say he is going to be late.  Awesome.

7:55pm - Aidan is down for the night.  We do bath, teeth, pajamas, sometimes a book (he isn't into books at all), and then I do still nurse him 2-4 times a day and usually at night before bed.

8:15pm - Hope is down and I head back to the kitchen.  Yikes, what a mess!  I clean the kitchen and make lunches for everyone for Wed.

9:15pm - My feet are killing me.  I take a nice long shower (yep, first time I have had time to shower today).  Adam gets home, eats and heads to the office to work some more.

9:50pm - I pour myself into bed and I had tivoed Real Housewives of Orange County so I watch it.  I know, it's a guilty pleasure for sure. 

11:00pm - I am asleep.  Adam comes to bed and wakes me up.  Ugh!

12:22pm - Aidan wakes up.  Not thinking I go in and nurse him. 

3:15am - Hope wakes up calling me.  I go in and lay with her for a little while.

4:00am - Aidan wakes again.  Ugh!  I go in there.  He is teething so I feel bad.  I nurse him again.

4:45am - Hope has a nightmare and is crying for me.  I go in there and pull the covers over me.  I'm not going anyway.  I decide to just sleep the rest of the night with her.  And her screaming wakes Aidan up so Adam has to get up and tend to him (no nursing involved that time).  :)

6:40am - Aidan is up for the day.  I go in and nurse him and we start the day.  Yes, I am exhausted!

Mother's Day Post - the good, the bad, and the ugly

So most of you know that I lost my mom to cancer just over 5 years ago.  It was before I was even pregnant with my little girl.  Since then, Mother's Day has been hard.  It's really hard for me to get so excited about my kids/husband doing things for me when most of the day I think about my mom.  I want to enjoy Mother's Day so much, but it's so hard for me too. 

The Good

The fam decided to go to my in-laws lake house for the weekend.  Last minute, we decided that I would take the kids early Thursday evening with my mother-in-law and then hubs and his stepdad would join us Friday evening after work.  So that was a nice surprise to get up there early and have more time to relax and another pair of hands to help with the kiddos.  The little guy even slept pretty well for me, which was nice.  During the little guys morning nap, my MIL (mother-in-law) even volunteered to watch Hope so I could go running.  I just did a quick 4 miler, but it was nice to get out especially since it was the first time I had run all week.  I did run in a turkey during my run, which made my heart skip a beat for a minute, but there was no damage done by either of us.  During the kids afternoon nap, my MIL wanted to wash some windows, so I got to lay by the lake with a book (yes, I am a little behind, but I am loving it).  The men arrived late on Friday and the rest of the weekend at the lake was very nice.  I got a new bathing suit for Mother's Day and a cover up for the summer.  I hadn't gotten a new bathing suit or cover up in 3 years, so it was time. 

The Bad

It's not really bad, but on our way back from the lake, we stopped at the cemetary where my mother is.  I am definitely glad I was able to get there on Mother's Day, even if I was without a flower for her grave.  But of course, I would have preferred to have gone to her house and hung out with her, so that is where the bad comes from.  We got the kids out of the car, even though we knew it would be a quick trip.  Hope knows that "Gigi" is in heaven (she points to the sky) so it was kind of difficult to describe that this is her resting place when we are looking at a grave.  I did tell my mom Happy Mother's Day and what really hurt was when my husband told me how proud she would be of me.  I just about lost it then.  I was a relatively young adult when she passed.  I had graduated from grad school and gotten married, and I had done a good bit of work at my job before she passed, but I feel like my life has changed so much in the past 5 years, that my mom has missed.  Of course the birth of my 2 children is #1 and #2 on the list.  Buying our second house (our family house), my husband graduating with his PhD and getting a job, etc.  It was an emotional rollercoaster, but I tried to stay positive the rest of the day.

The Ugly
Well it was raining, and I was supposed to have semi-final play for tennis.  That was why we left the lake earlier on Sunday.  So we figured the rain would postpone tennis until Monday, but we had it hanging over our heads for hours.  Then finally, the rain stopped for about 1.5 hours, so they made it go out there (30 minutes away) and stand there for 15 minutes before deciding that it was definitely going to rain again and we could go home.  So I spent 1.25 hours away from my family just driving and waiting for nothing on Mother's Day.  Not the way I wanted to spent the afternoon.  Ugh!

The night did end well, but hubs and I were so into playing with the kids in our new playroom, that we missed planning dinner.  So we didn't get a special dinner, just spaghetti.  But I did get a wonderful back massage from hubs after bending over all weekend with Junior Junior. 

I hope all the mothers out there had a wonderful Mother's Day!  Did you do anything special? 

Race Recap - The Publix Half Marathon

OMG!  I am so sorry that I haven't been blogging much lately.  I have been very busy, and I am trying to detach myself from technology more, which is good for my kids, but bad for the blog world.  I have been in the kitchen more and doing more with my kids so it's been great.  I have also been logging about 20 miles a week running and getting in some cross-training.  My tennis team just made the playoffs so we start that next weekend.  The little guy is still waking up a lot during the night so we are trying to work on that right now.  Hubs goes in more at night and less of me, so we are hoping the little guy will figure it out sooner than later.  We are on Day 3 of that.  The little guy is still nursing as well, but only 2-3 times a day, so I have a lot more freedom.  He is showing zero signs of being ready to wean so we are going to just stick with it for a while I guess. 

So finally, my last race was the Publix Half Marathon.  My brother-in-law had planned to run with his friend, but at the last minute pulled out (his friend).  So my brother-in-law decided he would run with me.  Yikes!  He is really fast and I wasn't used to running with someone so it was going to be interesting. 

He lives near me (3 miles away) so I picked him up early and we headed down there.  We got parked, walked to the bag drop off and then to say hi to his friend working a tent at the race.  I was Corral C, so I was up close.  The gun went off and we started. 

My goal for the race was a course PR.  I was coming off a 10k PR, so I knew I wanted to do well.  The course had changed slightly over the past couple of years.  I didn't run it last year since junior junior was only 10 days old, so it had been 2 years for me.  I knew it was a difficult course, and now I can say I think it's harder than it used to be.  The first 8-9 miles were good, easy hills, nothing crazy.  Miles 9-13.1 were killer. 

Here we are at mile 8. 

Brother-in-law obviously feels better than me here.

Hubs and my little pumpkin

Junior Junior giving us his "happy face."



Since I wanted a course PR, I needed under 1:53:00.  I got in with 1:52:43 for 13.18 miles meaning a pace of 8:31.  I was pretty happy with that.  It was a difficult course to say the least. 

I have a few races in mind for May, but with tennis we will see how it goes.

Happy birthday little boy!

Yes, I am behind in my posts.  It's not like I don't have things to write about, because I do.  I just can't find the time to write.  Work has been crazy, the kids are terrific but crazy, the kitchen has been crazy (I am cooking up a storm), and Adam's work has been crazy, which has led me to do more around the house and with the kids.  The good news is that after 6 weeks of at least one person being sick in our family, everyone is healthy.  Yay!!!

And my little baby had a birthday.  I can't believe he is one year old already.  I remember when he was born. 

And now . . .



We had a small family gathering to celebrate his birthday, and of course, I made him a special cake.

I took the kids to the store to get some decorations.  I wanted to specifically say 1st birthday, so I knew I was limited.  There were 2 for boys, one just blue, and one Sesame Street.  Sesame Street won.  Then I remembered that my friend made an Elmo cake for her daughter's birthday a couple of years ago, and sure enough she still had the directions and the cake pan.  I think it turned out pretty good.  For the cake, I used this recipe.  Now everyone is different when it comes to cakes, and I am not a huge cake fan (I said cake, not sweets people), but I thought this cake tasted amazing!  It's a little more dense than most cakes probably, but I thought it tasted awesome.  I did half organic whole wheat pastry flour and half organic unbleached white flour.  If you have to bake a cake anytime soon, I recommend this recipe. 

And here I am in hte kitchen cooking.  We had dinner at our house for the little guy's party.  I made hummus, homemade trail mix, spaghetti with 2 kinds of meatballs (one had meat and one did not), salad bar, garlic bread, and of course, the cake.  Dinner was a hit.  Everyone enjoyed it!

Everyone was not a fan of the party hats though.  I was lucky to get this one picture with my kids and their party hits (mine too of course).  I can't believe how big they are getting.

I wish I had pictures of the little guy eating his cake, but they wouldn't upload.  I will add them later if I can get it work.  Now Hope is a girly girl, and that has absolutely nothing to do with the way she is being raised.  She is all about skirts, dresses, princesses, and not getting sticky.  So one her first birthday, she was not into the whole cake in mouth thing.  It wasn't for her.  She didn't really even play with it.  Total bummer.  But my Aidan, he is a different story.  We gave him a whole eye of Elmo, so it was like his own individual cake.  He started out slow, but once he figured it it was a lot of yummy sugary stuff, he went crazy.  He had it all over his mouth, hands, it was . . . AWESOME!  I loved every minute of it.  I will never forget that moment. 

I then took the little guy into his 1 year appointment and he is weight is ok.  He is in the 7th percentile and still pretty picky about what he eats and how he eats it.  He only has 2 teeth still so I don't feel like I can give him much, but we are trying.  I am still nursing, but not as often and not in a rigid schedule like before.  He has had whole milk and had no problems with it.  I really struggle with what to give him.  He take organic whole milk with most meals and a little extra when I am not around, but he doesn't drink that much.  I nurse him anywhere between 2 and 4 times a day and then at night if he is waking up (he has been sick with an ear infection so I am currently nursing him when he wakes which is twice a night right now).  I am trying to be careful about soy with him because he is a boy, but the kid does like tofu. He hasn't had any meat, and doesn't like beans.  If there are any moms who have picky kids, tell me what you give them.  I refuse to have him eat chicken nuggets and mac and cheese every week.  We are doing what the ped recommends which is to just keep introducing the food over and over. 

Oh, and 4 days after the little guy's birthday, I celebrated my birthday.  The hubs did a great job for my birthday.  I felt very special.  And the cake I had was awesome!  It's a special place we get cakes for each other and they even come in vegan versions.

Race Recap - Charles Harris 10k

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I know, I have been such a bad blogger. I have a lot of excuses, like my kids have been sick (the little guy was just diagnosed with a double ear infection), I have been doing a lot of cooking, but no new/unique recipes (try Peas and Thank You - that is where most of recipes are coming from), hubby's been working like a dog, so I haven't had much free time, I am trying to get as many training runs as possible with such little time, . . . See I have a lot of excuses.

Well my training runs have paid off, because I PR'ed on Sat. Yep, I broke 50 minutes On my 10k. My brother-in-law ran this race last year and said how easy it was. Then I read on another blog about how it was one of the best Peactree qualifying races, and it was close to my house, so I convinced my brother-in-law, and a few others to run.

The morning started with picking up my brother-in-law and heading to the start. We actually saw them setting up the course as we drove up, so I knew exactly what the route was. We grabbed our numbers, and he took me out to do a nice warm-up. We then headed to the start. He went up front and I stayed in the middle. I ran into Runblondie before the start and did a quick hello, and then we were off.

The first mile I ran a 7:39. Holy guacamole! I knew I needed to average 8:03 to break 50 min. The second mile was 8:12, the rest were around 8 min. I could see the finish line for what felt like forever before actually crossing it. I finished in 49:31 and my Garmin clocked it at 6.25 miles, so I averaged 7:56 minute miles. I couldn't believe it, a sub 8 minute average. I felt like a real runner at that point. That runner's high stayed with me all weekend. I will say I didn't love my finish, the last 2 little hills weren't easy. But there is always something I can find fault with when it comes to me.

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My next race will be Publix Half Marathon. Less than 3 weeks away. I am feeling strong.  My workouts are going pretty well.  I have been under the weather and little and the kids have been just out right sick, so I haven't gotten every training run in, but after last weekend's race, I am feeling good and can't wait to race again.

Race Results
Chip Time:  49:31
Overall Women's Place: 85/367
Age Group Finish:  17/58
Pace: 7:56

Training Update - Week 3

Training is going ok.  It's hard to get all my runs in when I can't run early in the morning before everyone's day starts (still nursing and not about to pump in the wee hours plus Aidan usually wakes up 5am and nurses/snuggles with me until 6:30am or 7am). 

Last week I was able to get in this:

Tuesday:  30 minute HIIT (3.14 miles for the HIIT and 3.4 miles total) + some circuit training (25 minutes worth)
Friday:  4.93 miles with the jogging stroller + abs
Sunday:  Great 7.16 mile run by myself + abs

Total mileage for the week:  15.49 miles
Total January miles:  59.59 miles (if I had only known, I would have run an extra 1/2 mile)

Hopefully, the little man will start sleeping a little later and not feel the need to snuggle every morning so I can get out there and pound the pavement while my family is still asleep.  That would make things a lot easier.  One day it will happen.  I am trying not to rush it. 

Today is so nice, I am going to try to get in a couple of miles this afternoon with the kiddos.  Are you training for anything?  How is it going?

5 Things I am lovin' - 1/24/2012

Here is another installment of 5 Things I am lovin'. 

1.  Jillian Michaels

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I got the option to try Jillian Michaels website for free for 4 weeks.  I have always loved her on The Biggest Loser, but I have never been a big weights person.  Also, with the holidays finally coming to an end, I noticed my eating habits were less than stellar.  So I signed up and it's been pretty good.  I am not following it exactly, because most of her meals are not vegetarian or vegan, but it gives me an idea of how I should do my meals.  I think I need more protein in them really.  I am following for a balanced oxidier, according to her quiz.  Like I said, I am not going crazy trying to make what she is recommending, but using it as a guide to how much I should be eating.  And I have been adding protein to most of my meals and snacks.  It helps for a while, but I am just not a big protein person so after a week, I just want some cereal.  :)  I am also doing some of the circuit training she recommends.  I know I can't do 4 days of circuit training (being that I am running 3-4 days a week training for the half), so I am trying to do as many days as I can.  I usually can't finish it but I do as much as I can.  It helps me get in 3 days of abs though, so that is good. 

2.  Detox Salad

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I found this recipe over at Oh She Glows a while back and have made it several times now.  It was a great way to start the New Year off right.  It is a delicious, nutritious salad that is nice and light.  It's a great way to start off a meal.  I make a big batch and it lasts for a week.  No one else in my family really cares to even try it (I might be able to get the little lady to try it if she sees me drizzle maple syrup over it).  I used my new food processor to shred almost all of the ingredients, so it didn't take nearly as much time as before.  I made it a couple of weeks ago already and can't wait to do it again.  Yum!  Thanks Angela for finding this one. 

3.  Multigrain tortillas

I am in love with these right now.  They are low in calories, multrigran, but soft!  I always find the whole wheat tortillas are hard and don't bend as easily.  Not these, they are great.  I can't say enough good things about them.  Oh, did I mention, they aren't expensive either.  I find them at Kroger in the international foods isle.  Stock up people, they are delicious!

4.  My new shoes

I love it when fashion intersects with mom friendly.  I scored these boots as a Christmas present for myself via Christmas money.  I love the no heel so I can wear them out and still run after children, carry them, etc. without having to worry about anything.  I went with brown because I already have a lot of black boots and I scored a sweet deal on them as well. 

I decided to get 2 new pairs of running shoes, my tried and true Mizuno Wave Creations, but also a pair of Mizuno Wave Riders.  The wave riders are over an ounce lighter but are still somewhat supportive.  Both were on sale (got the older version of both), but the wave riders were only $60 which is what pushed me to try them.  I have been running in them for almost a month and really love them.  Of course no long runs in them, but I will probably save my long runs for the creations.  Now those puppies have some cushion.  I have not had any feet problems since using my Mizunos.

5.  NBC's The Firm

As I was looking for a great picture of this, I found out that it is likely to be cancelled.  :(  The hubs and I did not start watching it when it first came on, but we watched a couple of episodes over the weekend OnDemand.  I personally fell in love with it.  I wasn't expecting to like it so much, but I am hooked.  I am so sad that more people aren't watching it.  If you haven't seen it, give it a chance and watch one episode. 

What are you lovin' right now?