This is largely for journaling, so bear with me, or I guess just stop reading if you're bored.
I'm a pretty solid 5-6 days per week exerciser now, which amazes me a bit, mostly because of my long term consistency and the difficulty of the exercises I've been able to do in the last two years.
Today I was reflecting on how exercise has become my hobby. I don't think it's my hobby because I love it while I'm doing it, but because it is something for me. I choose what to do, when to do it, and it feels indulgent to structure things around something just for me. Plus, I don't feel guilty because I know it is directly beneficial for me and the baby I'm carrying, and I like that Ethan sees exercise as a priority and fun (especially at race finish lines). I'm sure the endorphins help with the positivity as well.
My exercise routine has already changed due to my pregnancy, especially now that I don't have the Ragnar pushing me to keep running 6 miles regularly. At 16 weeks pregnant, this is my current routine:
Monday: Strength training aerobics with friends at the church.
Tuesday: Run 3 miles with jogging stroller.
Wednesday: Step circuit class at the gym.
Thursday: Kickboxing (killer class) at the gym (occasionally Body Works strength training instead)
Friday: lately I wake up drained on Fridays, so the plan is water aerobics. Today I did yoga and then walked 3 miles to the post office instead of driving (walking helps to loosen up my muscles after kickboxing soreness).
Saturday: Run 3 miles if time, schedule, and energy permits.
Almost every day I notice benefits of all of this exercise: (1) energy to chase Ethan around, although I do take a nap most afternoons (2) ability to chase Ethan around (3) fitness level and size to climb through little spaces with Ethan at the Children's Museum, among other places (4) strength to lift and throw Ethan around (5) feeling of accomplishment as I stick to goals and see ther results...you get the idea.
As I was reflecting on these habits, I started musing on how I got to this level of exercise.
2008
October: Had Ethan
December: Weighed myself and was appalled that more baby weight hadn't come off on its own. Started using my elliptical regularly.
2009
February: Got bored of the elliptical every day and started the Couch to 5k running program. Eventually was up to about 4 miles. Started attending aerobics classes at the church.
August: As reward for reaching my 30 lbs weight loss goal, went to Utah and climbed Mt. Timponogos.
September: Committed to my first Ragnar. Started training for a 10k Turkey Trot.
November: Ran 10k Turkey Trot in 56:59.
December: Was assigned runner 12 for the Ragnar (distances: 7.8, 7.2, 3 miles)-yikes!
2010
January: Began training for 8 mile distances, on a mountain.
February: Ran Ragnar.
June: Started training for a half marathon.
September: Ran half marathon (that's 13.1 miles!) in 2:09:40ish
October: Began attending the gym that opened on the corner while continuing to run.
November: Ran Turkey Trot 10k again.
December: Got pregnant.
2011
February: Ran the Ragnar (6.5, 5.4, and 4.5 miles)
And that brings us to now, when exercise feels like something enjoyable and rewarding that I get to do for me most days!
I hope that after #2, and at busier times in my life, I will still make exercise a priority, because I know at each major change in life I have to re-establish the habit/hobby.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
That's One Solution
When it was time for dinner tonight Ethan and Mike were out mowing the grass and coloring with chalk. I told Ethan we needed to wash his hands because they were green (from fresh grass clippings) and they should be pink or white like mine (showing him my hands). He walked to his chalk, picked up the light pink, colored his hand, held it up for me to see, and said, "pink!!"
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Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed
A Few I Forgot from Mickey's House
Ethan loved Mickey's house. Mickey's glove was in this washer, but Ethan kept saying, "Mickey, Mickey" like he was concerned about Mickey being in there. He didn't want to leave.
The best part of Mickey's house (besides Mickey) was the vegetable garden though.
He could have stayed there all day.
Mickey's piano was "broken" because it doesn't actually play anything.
The best part of Mickey's house (besides Mickey) was the vegetable garden though.
He could have stayed there all day.
Mickey's piano was "broken" because it doesn't actually play anything.
Super Sleeper
When my sister came out, she was supposed to come stay 4 days and 4 nights at my house, but Ethan got sick. All our plans changed in a (successful) effort to keep her kids from getting it too. That means she only got to spend like 2 days here. Our plans of going to my gym classes together and doing lots of outdoor activities went out the window. With one of the days we decided to go hike/play at South Mountain, but Ethan woke up acting sleepy. He didn't want to eat and just wanted to sit on my lap. So at like 9:30am I suggested we go lay on my bed. I put him on the bed and he lay down, closed his eyes, and was immediately asleep. He slept for 4 hours! Best laid plans to go do fun things...
After he woke up he went to play in his train room. The track was broken, so I started to fix it. While I did, and only an hour after waking up, Ethan curled up on Lisa's pillow (lucky girl was sleeping in the train room) and went to sleep for another hour. He never just goes to sleep on his own like that!
This is him pretending to sleep in my suitcase when I got it out to pack.
The next morning he was back to his usual perky self. He missed his usual nap time to get on the plane, and by the time he fell asleep in flight, we were starting to descend. He woke up groggy and acting very tired.
At Grandma Carla's he fell asleep on me for about half an hour. I had missed dinner so I went and got a plate, turned around, and here he was, sleeping again. When he woke up he sat on my lap and fell back asleep, then again on the floor later. Poor guy!
As for the hotel, for the first time, we did not bring a pack n' play. Instead, we brought Ethan's Thomas play tent (and his night light sleep signal). He did great sleeping in it! We shared a room with Joe's family and Ethan and 7 both slept through the night every night! Ethan (and the rest of us) slept even better when Lauren provided us with some cough syrup for Ethan so he wasn't coughing all night!
Every morning when Ethan woke up we would find random things in his tent. Things like: a gallon sized bag of sugar cookies (unopened), a camera tripod, my vitamin container/pillbox (also unopened), etc. Funny kid must have gone on little scavenger missions while we stayed out of the room letting 7 fall asleep!
At Disneyland, in San Francisco (post to come), and on most of our car and plane rides, Ethan fell asleep! It was amazing! I would tell him to lay down, close his eyes, and go to sleep in the stroller, and he would! For 1-1.5 hours, so not bad for being out and about! It definitely made the trip go much more smoothly having him well rested. Staying at the Disneyland resort hotel also made it easier for us to let him get a full night's sleep and one afternoon I took him back to the hotel and let him sleep for 2 hours (before waking him up).
After he woke up he went to play in his train room. The track was broken, so I started to fix it. While I did, and only an hour after waking up, Ethan curled up on Lisa's pillow (lucky girl was sleeping in the train room) and went to sleep for another hour. He never just goes to sleep on his own like that!
This is him pretending to sleep in my suitcase when I got it out to pack.
The next morning he was back to his usual perky self. He missed his usual nap time to get on the plane, and by the time he fell asleep in flight, we were starting to descend. He woke up groggy and acting very tired.
At Grandma Carla's he fell asleep on me for about half an hour. I had missed dinner so I went and got a plate, turned around, and here he was, sleeping again. When he woke up he sat on my lap and fell back asleep, then again on the floor later. Poor guy!
As for the hotel, for the first time, we did not bring a pack n' play. Instead, we brought Ethan's Thomas play tent (and his night light sleep signal). He did great sleeping in it! We shared a room with Joe's family and Ethan and 7 both slept through the night every night! Ethan (and the rest of us) slept even better when Lauren provided us with some cough syrup for Ethan so he wasn't coughing all night!
Every morning when Ethan woke up we would find random things in his tent. Things like: a gallon sized bag of sugar cookies (unopened), a camera tripod, my vitamin container/pillbox (also unopened), etc. Funny kid must have gone on little scavenger missions while we stayed out of the room letting 7 fall asleep!
At Disneyland, in San Francisco (post to come), and on most of our car and plane rides, Ethan fell asleep! It was amazing! I would tell him to lay down, close his eyes, and go to sleep in the stroller, and he would! For 1-1.5 hours, so not bad for being out and about! It definitely made the trip go much more smoothly having him well rested. Staying at the Disneyland resort hotel also made it easier for us to let him get a full night's sleep and one afternoon I took him back to the hotel and let him sleep for 2 hours (before waking him up).
Disneyland! Pictures!
In March my mom and Gary took the whole family to Disneyland! It was Ethan's first trip and despite the fact that I have lost some pictures, lost a camera, and have yet to completely swap pictures with family, you are about to see more Disneyland pictures than you ever wanted!
Most of us flew out on Wednesday afternoon. We went and visited my Grandma Carla who lives in LA. Ethan was recovering from his cough and kept falling asleep: on me, on the floor, anywhere. It was pretty pitiful. Tuesday and Wednesday of that week he slept a lot and didn't wait for me to suggest it.
Now for the pictures! These won't be chronological (we spent 3 days at the parks!), so we'll start with the nice ones from Lisa.
The whole clan! Left to right: Step-dad Gary, step-sister Susan, niece Angelina, sister Lisa, niece Ruth, nephew James, brother-in-law Dan, Ethan, my Mom, sister-in-law Lauren, Brother Joseph VI, nephew Joseph VII, me, Mike.
I LOVE this one of the kids!
Nana, Papa, and all the grandkids.
This is 7 (Joseph VII) on the Nemo ride. Ethan LOVES Nemo, so he would spend the whole time on the ride in the porthole looking out (as you can see in the background).
Ethan was start struck by all the characters! We took every chance we could get to see them. He especially loved Mickey and Pluto.
One morning we went to a character brunch and every few minutes a character would come by to say hi! It was cute to watch the wonder on Ethan's face--it must have seemed so magical to him to have cartoons coming to talk to him during breakfast!
Waiting for Soarin' Over California
Ferris wheel
Toy Story ride (Dan found front of the line passes!)
More of the character breakfast:
Kiss on the cheek:
A few times during the meal music played and we were encourage to dance with the characters. The kids took the invitation.
Ethan's first time meeting Mickey!!! Adorable, no?
Chip and Dale's roller coaster.
Ethan got scared on his first hill and ducked his head, here Mike is trying to keep him from bumping it on the bar. Lauren is with Ruth in the car ahead. Even this ride had signs saying pregnant women shouldn't ride, so Lisa and I were good and didn't go on it.
Ruthie being cute waiting in line:
Brother and sister:
Angelina and Susan, Gary and Ruth, Mom and James:
Meeting Pluto:
Mickey again! Toon Town was my favorite place this trip. It was so perfect for Ethan!
The roller coaster got better every time.
Playing in Mickey's fountain:
Finishing up on the Matterhorn! I wasn't allowed on this one either, so I got picture duty. Ethan was very clingy to Nana, so he chose to ride with her. Ethan always adores Nana, but I think he may have been a little protective with all these other kids vying for her attention!
A few pictures from my phone at Tarzan's treehouse. Ethan LOVED all the stairs and had to climb each one by himself.
"In the Tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki room..."
Now when can we go back?
Most of us flew out on Wednesday afternoon. We went and visited my Grandma Carla who lives in LA. Ethan was recovering from his cough and kept falling asleep: on me, on the floor, anywhere. It was pretty pitiful. Tuesday and Wednesday of that week he slept a lot and didn't wait for me to suggest it.
Now for the pictures! These won't be chronological (we spent 3 days at the parks!), so we'll start with the nice ones from Lisa.
The whole clan! Left to right: Step-dad Gary, step-sister Susan, niece Angelina, sister Lisa, niece Ruth, nephew James, brother-in-law Dan, Ethan, my Mom, sister-in-law Lauren, Brother Joseph VI, nephew Joseph VII, me, Mike.
I LOVE this one of the kids!
Nana, Papa, and all the grandkids.
This is 7 (Joseph VII) on the Nemo ride. Ethan LOVES Nemo, so he would spend the whole time on the ride in the porthole looking out (as you can see in the background).
Ethan was start struck by all the characters! We took every chance we could get to see them. He especially loved Mickey and Pluto.
One morning we went to a character brunch and every few minutes a character would come by to say hi! It was cute to watch the wonder on Ethan's face--it must have seemed so magical to him to have cartoons coming to talk to him during breakfast!
Waiting for Soarin' Over California
Ferris wheel
Toy Story ride (Dan found front of the line passes!)
More of the character breakfast:
Kiss on the cheek:
A few times during the meal music played and we were encourage to dance with the characters. The kids took the invitation.
Ethan's first time meeting Mickey!!! Adorable, no?
Chip and Dale's roller coaster.
Ethan got scared on his first hill and ducked his head, here Mike is trying to keep him from bumping it on the bar. Lauren is with Ruth in the car ahead. Even this ride had signs saying pregnant women shouldn't ride, so Lisa and I were good and didn't go on it.
Ruthie being cute waiting in line:
Brother and sister:
Angelina and Susan, Gary and Ruth, Mom and James:
Meeting Pluto:
Mickey again! Toon Town was my favorite place this trip. It was so perfect for Ethan!
The roller coaster got better every time.
Playing in Mickey's fountain:
Finishing up on the Matterhorn! I wasn't allowed on this one either, so I got picture duty. Ethan was very clingy to Nana, so he chose to ride with her. Ethan always adores Nana, but I think he may have been a little protective with all these other kids vying for her attention!
A few pictures from my phone at Tarzan's treehouse. Ethan LOVED all the stairs and had to climb each one by himself.
"In the Tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki room..."
Now when can we go back?
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