Havasu

Exercise: 4.5 miles w/ Music Man

Crazy busy week I've had that finally culminated in an amazingly relaxing vacation weekend. So now I'm busy relaxing :); swimming, boating, running at my leisure with the man I love!, and enjoying family.

Hope you've all had a great week and relaxing weekend.

New Blog

If you have any interest in my journey to 50k you can visit me at my new blog . I will still blog here a bit, but the other blog is shiny and new :)

Ultra Lauren

May and June kind of got away from me. I have a toddler, nuff said, right? Or I could go on; a toddler that runs, climbs, tries to jump off things and generally causes all sorts of mayhem. He's pretty darn fantastic. :) And super cute to boot.

(little trouble maker)

As if raising a toddler wasn't enough there's always a new adventure in the works. In May we held an incredibly crazy first birthday party with tons of toddlers and preschoolers, my husband went away for the whole month and Hunter decided not to nap or sleep the entire time he was gone. In June my husband returned but moved to a studio out of the house (he is missed but I'm super excited about the extra space) and Hunter started running (mostly into sharp corners.)

And now in July I'm embarking on another adventure all my own. I've decided to start training for a 50k trail run. The distance sounds a little crazy but I've run 5 marathons and a handful of other races. 50k is about 31 miles so just 5 miles longer than a marathon. 5 miles is nothing after 26, right? I'm hoping so.

I started training about a month ago with the intent to eventually run a marathon but couldn't find a marathon that I really wanted to run that occurred at the right time or in the right area. I've had my heart set on EVENTUALLY running an ultra, I just had no idea it would be in 8 weeks.

Today I did my first hill and trail training run. It was incredible! Leaving my house at 5:45 it was already 72 degrees, but 5 minutes away the hills were about 10 degrees cooler, almost chilly. And trails are so much more fun than running around the same park every day.

This run also happens to be a lengthened version of the first route I ran post partum, weighing 230 lbs. Let me tell you how awesome it was running it again. Not only have I dropped 75 pounds since then, but I've also dropped about 5 minutes from my pace. I felt so light and free, even while running 2 miles up a very steep incline. I absolutely cannot wait to run the trails again. I'm even looking forward to a 15 mile run on them.

So people keep asking why? Dude, I don't know, there are so many reasons. What I do know is that the first day I started training for my first marathon I told my friend I had this overwhelming feeling of "why haven't I been doing this my whole life?" Even though that first run was more walking and gasping for air, and ended with feet full of blisters and muscles sore for days, it was the best thing I've ever done for myself. I had this goal that seemed totally unattainable but I was on my way to completing it.

Now, 8 years later I've completed 5 full marathons and a handful of other races. Not too shabby for a chubby girl. And after all that and a pregnancy I'm in the best shape of my life and feel like "So what now?" This 50k seems right up my alley. It's a shorter distance for an ultra. Most REAL ultras are 50 miles, 100 miles and upward. 31 miles seems like a good place to start.

For years I never thought I could run fast but always knew I had the endurance to run forever, so I focused on training for longer distances. This year, actually the past 2 months, is the first time I was ever able to run a quick pace. I set a goal to run an average pace of 9 minutes and I reached that goal. Now I'm actually passing people, which is just nuts. So now I get to go back to my love of distance. And maybe when I complete this goal I'll go back to working on speed. I keep hearing a whisper telling me it's time to get to Boston.

12 Months

(Hey Chubs)

(Grass eater!)

I have been so worried about Hunter's 1 year doctor visit. I was worried he'd be considered overweight or not hitting the correct milestones. But my main concern was vaccinations. I am definitely pro vaccination but not 6 at a time as the CDC recommends. It just seems like too many chemicals at once. Beyond that I was worried Hunter's pediatrician would pressure me to (or convince me to, hey I trust the guy) get the butt load of vaccines.

Luckily, the good doctor prefers splitting things up a bit. And he was fine with me pushing the MMR vaccine way back, all the way to the week before Hunter's 2nd birthday. So Hunter only got 3 vaccines today, then he will receive 2 at 18 months and 1 at 23 months. And he only cried for a bit until he saw all the lady nurses, then he quit the waterworks and turned on the charm, he's such a flirt. I feel confident that I made a well thought out and informed decision for my boy. I just want him to be healthy and happy.

The rest of the appointment went pretty well. As for height and weight, Hunter has stayed in the same 95th percentile for height. He's a tall dude. And he's 50th for weight and head circumference. He's nice and proportionate for now, but who knows what the next growth spurt will bring. As for milestones, he's doing reasonably well. He's said a few words like truck, dog, bye-bye but doesn't say them repeatedly. Sometimes he tries to repeat something someone has said and you can hear him sound it out. But mostly he babbles. The ped isn't concerned at all but I feel like I may need to focus a bit more on his language skills.

Hunter's doing pretty well with motor skills. He walks mostly independently now, he'll fall and crawl sometimes, but he'll just pull himself up and walk again. He just started waving a few weeks ago and gives "5" but doesn't really clap. He does some semblance of the movement, like waving his arms toward each other, but the hands don't touch. I have been super worried about the clapping because so many of our baby friends clapped at 6-9 months. But they also got their teeth. My ped reminded me that the milestones are an "average", some babies are early at some things and late at others. As long most milestones are met on time we're in good shape.

The last issue I discussed with Hunter's pediatrician is Hunter's eating habits. He does the pincer grab for foods but doesn't put them in his mouth most of the time. He's not a huge fan of most chunky foods. Some days he eats ok and other days he only wants formula. The ped seemed to think that Hunter's eating delay is probably connected to his late teething. He is getting better now that he has 6 teeth. Also, I feel like I need to start weaning the bottle but I can't do that until Hunter is eating consistently well. He drinks well from the sippy cup but the bottle is comfort, like breastfeeding. We've started weaning formula and he's drinking mostly milk now.

The pediatrician's conclusion was that Hunter is perfect and I need to relax. My conclusion, I'll relax when I'm dead.

one year ago

One year ago today...

FINALLY!!!

Hunter has a tooth! His top right tooth broke through yesterday or the day before and the top left broke through today. It came as such a surprise since every other baby we know got the bottom two teeth first. The bottom teeth look like they'll be in any day now too so I guess he's just going to get his teeth all at once. It took him 11 months to get one tooth so he just has his own way of doing things.

Hunter's also started crawling a bit but he's much more interested in cruising. He only crawls when it's ABSOLUTELY necessary. He's so darn quick at cruising now. He'll go from the sofa to the bouncer to the wall in seconds. And he scales the walls and the back of the sofa so he can basically get anywhere. He's my little Spiderman. Adam has taught him to get up steps too, so he can make it up the first step but hasn't quite figured out how to get up the second. As soon as that happens it's all over.

He's also taking very unsteady first steps. He needs to gain some balance before he really starts walking. Basically he looks like a tiny drunk.

We've started the birthday party circuit. I don't think we will have a free weekend day for the next 2 or 3 months. That's what our weekends will be like for the next few years; birthday parties, soccer games, kid stuff. This has really changed my perspective on Hunter. He's no longer a little baby. he's a toddler now, almost a kid.

11 months is a super fun age. Hunter is getting so much more active and expressive. He smiles at everyone and laughs at our little jokes and games. His life isn't solely about being cared for anymore. He's my companion now. We go to the library, for bike rides, read books together and just have fun together.

I'm starting to get really anxious for Hunter's birthday. We've toyed with the idea of doing a Star Wars theme because he was born on Star Wars Day but I'm leaning towards doing something a little more baby oriented. Star Wars seems a little too old for him. I want to do that theme when he understands that he's busting open a Darth Vader head pinata. We still have a few weeks so I'll just see how I feel when the day approaches.

And I'll leave you with some photos from the past month.

February Update

I really just wanted to check in because I am realizing that the month is coming to an end and I have had only 1 post this month. Such a slacker.

*Hunter still doesn't have any teeth but we've started to feel bumps so at least we know he will have teeth...eventually

*He's started cruising a bit. Just along the sofa and coffee table but he's starting to get this walking thing slowly but surely. And he'll stand for about 10 seconds on his own before he realizes he's on his own and quickly grabs for the nearest stationary object

*EC training is going really well. Although it's more observation than communication at this point. He definitely understands what to do on the potty and I sincerely hope it continues. Not having to deal with poopy cloth diapers is awesome

*My birthday is in 4 days. I'm one of those people that loves birthdays and I like to celebrate for the whole week, but it's no fun without Adam here

*As of Saturday Adam's home for at least 2 weeks! He may go back to San Diego, but who knows. His year is looking CRAZY busy

*Adam and I are going out for lunch on my birthday, sans Hunter, and it will be the first time we've had a non family member watch him. I'm a bit nervous, but we've known Natalie for almost 5 years and her boyfriend is one of Adam's good friends so there's not really anything to worry about

*I had to go jean shopping last week because I am down another pant size. I realized this a few weeks ago when I was sitting on the ground at the park with some mommy and baby friends when a woman behind me motioned to my friend and told her to tell me to pull up my pants. Mortified! I knew I was sagging, but I didn't realize my ass was so offensive

*My friend Heather started a really cool blog this month. She has a different goal for each month and she will blog about it daily. This month her goal was to do Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. I happened to have that DVD and was so inspired I have been doing it as well. It's been so good for me, I think I actually found my abs

*Getting in better shape has motivated me to eat better so I started Weight Watchers. I'm not going to meetings, just following the points program. Basically, I'm just food journalling. But I downloaded a free phone ap and it's been really helpful. I love that I'm not dieting just paying better attention to portion size and what I'm putting in my mouth. Good news, I still get wine

*I haven't run in over 2 months, since a few weeks before Christmas, so I probably won't be completing my resolution to run 1000 miles this year. Oh well. It got really hard to coordinate running around naps and crankiness. My wonderful husband bought me a really nice elliptical trainer right before the holidays. It's been absolutely amazing and I will continue to use it daily but I'm going to start running again next week

*I won't be running the LA marathon next week. I could, and I could probably finish, but my legs would be so pissed. So I'm thinking about running the Las Vegas marathon in December. I'm starting to run again in a whole new kind of shoe and a whole new style of running so I need a good amount of time to adapt

I think that's all the news that's fit to print.

Where's the teef?

I have to start off by telling you that I'm sitting indian-style on the floor right now. I'm so used to being on the ground with Hunter all day I just automatically fall to the floor in the evening rather than the sofa. Oh, and did you notice Hunter's shirt? A little gift from Daddy's trip.

Hunter turns 9 months tomorrow and he's becoming so much fun. He's started moving, not crawling really, it's more like the breast stroke. He can get around pretty well, but it's fairly inefficient. And it's so funny because it was like one day he was totally stationary and the next day he was pulling toys off of his shelf or suddenly under the sofa.

He's getting so big! He was such a tiny guy when he was born, it's crazy to think he's more than tripled in size! Right before Thanksgiving we had to get a new car seat for him because his old one was getting too confining. Unfortunately he wasn't ready for the transition quite yet so he's stayed in the smaller car seat. Luckily most of his length is in his legs so his feet just dangle a bit.

We went to our 9 month appointment today and found out Hunter is way too big for his current car seat that was supposed to last the 1st year. He still has a huge 48 cm head. I wonder if this hinders the crawling at all because he'll get himself up on his knees and then his head goes right to the floor. I'm not kidding, it's like an orange on a toothpick! He tips the scales at close to 23 pounds and he's just over 30 inches tall.

Hunter talks so much these days. He's always babbling and this week he's really stuck on dada. So everyone we see he looks at and he says dadadadada, smiles, then gets shy and turns away. We were at a play group this afternoon and Hunter and his friend, baby Elizabeth, were babbling at each other. It was like they were having a real conversation although all they did was yell dadababararalala back and forth.

He also had his first wrestling match with his friend Hudson. Before, he would cry when he thought Hudson was being too aggressive, today he was able to get all rumble tumble before the tears appeared. He's still not sure about the more aggressive boys, but he's getting more tolerant. Adam was joking that Hunter will be just like his dad, friends with all the girls.

I'm just enjoying him so much. He becomes more wonderful by the day. And the last few weeks have been really rough with Adam gone. Hunter's kept me going, if just because I have to be present for him. I think Hunter understands that dad isn't here and it's affected him as well. But we're in the zone now and we've adjusted pretty well to being alone during the week.

And one final tidbit: still not a tooth in sight!!!! No lumps, no bumps, no swelling or redness. But he still drools like a fountain, runs a low grade fever some days, pulls at his ears and is generally fussy. The doctor assured me that this is all due to teething. But where are these elusive teeth?

Since you've been gone

Hi Dada,

It's only been a day and we already miss you!

Playing with my toys isn't as fun as playing with you

Even my new toys

Even the coolest spoon in the world isn't as cool as you

The washing machine is awesome, but not as awesome as you

Me learning to feed myself makes mom VERY happy, but not as happy as you make her

Oh, Ringo misses you too

I almost crawled and Mom was ecstatic! But not as ecstatic as she will be when she see's you Saturday

Goodnight Dada!

We love you!

First Week

Ahaha! Guess who got a mac book pro? I did I did. Okay, so it's 6 years old, and a hand me down from Adam, but I do enjoy having a laptop again. I gave my old one to my nephew and have been purely Windows and desktop ever since. It suited me fine, but I'm looking forward to couch computing again. I DEFINITELY missed it.

I have to admit the new year hasn't been the best. And I kept hearing everyone exclaim how it was going to be the best year ever and it actually made me feel worse. New Year's eve morning I was awakened by a very sick dog at 4 am, it wasn't pretty, and I was awake after that. Then the next morning I was awakened at 4 am again, but this time by a bout of hiccups Adam had for over 24 hours. Then Adam got sick, and it's just been a weird week.

Adam had also been waiting to hear about upcoming work. We both had been so on edge waiting to hear about it. And the industry shuts down during the holidays so we'd been playing the waiting game. Adam had us both convinced it wasn't going to happen. Finally, by the middle of this week he got confirmation on the job he was waiting for and possibly another. That made us a bit more optimistic about this year.

But it's good news, bad news. As is often the case. Good news is there is work, bad news is that it's 6 weeks in San Diego starting Monday. It's close enough to see each other on weekends but it will be quite a change for Hunter not to have daddy at home. And it was so cute. Today, Adam was changing a diaper and said to Hunter "come on, just say Dada for me before I leave" and Hunter looked up and said "Dada."

I'm a little nervous because I don't have much of a support system or family in place here and I feel a bit like a single mother. I have been so lucky to have Adam, primarily, at home since Hunter's birth so there might be some challenges ahead. Definitely some adjustments. Just being able to take a break will be a commodity.

Six weeks is a long time. Especially because Hunter will be almost 10 months by the end of the project and will probably be crawling and possibly walking. And starting to say a word or two. There's just so much development that takes place during these months. Crawling and talking are BIG milestones. But Adam will be able to experience it on weekends, so it's not so bad.

Hunter is still doing great. We still have no teeth but I think this is a lesson in patience for little old me. I get way too wrapped up in the occurrence of milestones and have to constantly remind myself that all babies are different and do things at their own pace. As long as he's in the realm of normal, we're all good. And he is. He doesn't crawl but he steadies himself on the sofa, coffee table or toy box. He's not a huge talker but we've heard the mama, dada, baba and a few other babbley words. A few days ago he said "Mac" and Adam said "fanboy."

Sleeping has improved immensely. We get some now. I don't want to go into details because I believe in the great power of the JINX. And I know it could change tomorrow and it probably will next week. We also dropped a nap and are down to 2. I love the naps because I can get stuff done but Hunter is a very scheduled napper so it really breaks up our day. We are slaves to nap time. So the fact that we only have 2 now is quite an improvement.

I can't wait to see what this year has in store for us. I feel like we've had enough excitement this week to last a whole year. So maybe the rest will be smooth sailing... ;)

Year's End

Seriously, I just sat down to write and realized there's a load of laundry that needs to be folded and another that needs to go in the dryer. But I want to write something because it's New Year's Eve and I feel I've been neglectful of this blog. I need to write. And sum up 2010.

It's all been so crazy with the holidays and the little man. And the traveling! We drove to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving (easy as pie) and to Jerome, AZ for Christmas (a bit challenging, but 8 hours in a car will make anyone stir crazy.) We had lovely holidays and a wonderful 1st Christmas!!! but I so look forward to celebrating in our own home next year.

Hunter continues to amaze me on a daily basis and I can't wait to experience what 2011 has in store for him. He's starting to wiggle around on the floor and when he gets up in the morning I sometimes find him pushing up on his arms which leads me to believe that crawling may be coming soon. He is nearly standing on his own and just this morning he took 3 steps while holding onto the coffee table.

He said mama and mum for the first time a few weeks ago. And last week he started going crazy with baba. He still hasn't said dada but we've heard abba, ada, pa and poo and he's started mixing consonants. Like bagoo and paga and what sounded like el gaupo.

Oh, also, he still has no teeth. At our 4 month appointment the doctor felt his gums and said "Oh yeah, there's some swelling. Looks like teeth are on their way!" That was 4 months ago. And I've been feeling the rough edge of the lower teeth for, like, 3 months now.

And it's awful because Hunter seems so uncomfortable. He's always running a temperature around 99.5, no teether can sate him for longer than a minute, and he just drools like a St. Bernard all the time. But everyone, including the new doctor, says this is normal and some kids don't get their teeth until after a year. Which just seems so mean.

But I'm fairly certain he will have teeth. Just like I'm certain that one day he will have hair... and eyebrows.

So my goals for 2011 are to help my kid grow some teeth and hair. Just kidding, but seriously, dude, throw me a bone, or some teeth.

My goals:

Run 1000 miles- that's less than 3 miles a day so it's doable. Although I'm not starting off very well because I haven't run for 2 weeks. I am using the elliptical so I'm not a complete lazy ass.

Lose 37 pounds- 3 pounds a month, totally doable. I haven't been dieting like crazy or running and have managed to lose 2 pounds since Thanksgiving. Bow down

Run 2 marathons- LA for sure and maybe Las Vegas in the fall

Make art- I'd like to finish at least 1 piece a month and have a representation of my year in art

Sell my art- just one piece is enough. Hello Etsy?

Read 10 good books- I used to be an avid reader, it's always been like dessert to me. I want to feel that again

I am an evil wife! I was so tired yesterday morning after having been woken up twice in the past 2 hours by baby boy that I turned the baby monitor on it's highest volume and hung it over Adam's head. It was quite a rude awakening for my dear husband.

Sorry baby, I owe you!

5 Holiday Gifts for the All Natural Baby

5 Holiday Gifts for the All Natural Baby

So I'm posting this list from The Stir because there are a few products that I love. The Lil Bumpkin quilt has been great for Hunter to play on during the day and wrap up with at nap time. I had Hunter's quilt custom made and Tiffany, the genius behind Lil Bumpkin, chose fabrics to coordinate with Hunter's nursery.

Do you see the squirrels? It's perfect!

I didn't know about Aden & Anais before I had Hunter but I received some swaddling blankets as a gift and they are the best! They are the only ones I use. I love the large size and the soft breathable fabric. I know we'll use them for a long time to come. I also really like the Green Toys Stacker and I think I may purchase this for Hunter for Christmas. He's just getting into stacking stuff, well more like unstacking, but this seems right up his alley. And the price is awesome too. I am loving the Green Toys site. I think I've already found Hunter's birthday gift!

Milk Donation

I've written here before about my breast milk supply issues and how inadequate it has made me feel to not be able to provide milk for my son. I've also worried about Hunter's overall health because breast milk is best for babies and we just couldn't make it work. I mentioned to a friend of mine that had I known more about breast milk exchanges and donations that I may have gone that route. I did know of the existence of exchanges but the idea of it seemed a little weird to me. Like how is the milk or donor screened? Is it costly? Those types of things.

Then the following day I was at my mommy and me class and this woman mentioned she had an abundance of frozen breast milk her son wouldn't eat. And she asked what she could do with it. I piped up that she could donate it to people like me that needed breast milk through donation centers or Le Leche League. And yesterday she came over to my house with a Target bag full of frozen breast milk for Hunter. It almost makes me want to cry it was such a wonderful gesture.

If you or anyone you know has a bunch of breast milk that has gone unused I would say I would love to have it. But the truth is there are mothers and babies that need it way more than Hunter and I do. Infants with failure to thrive, allergies and premies. If you or anyone you know want to look into donation of breast milk I have attached a few links below for donation research.

http://milkshare.birthingforlife.com/

http://milkinmamas.com/?gclid=CIWN9_q0o6UCFRBzgwod5kW1Iw

http://www.milkbanking.net/index.php

http://www.llli.org/NB/NBmilkdonation.html

xoxo,

Lauren

EC Training

We just started EC training a few days ago. For those of you that haven't heard of EC training, you are going to think this is crazy. EC training is Elimination Communication or infant potty training. Dude, I know. I thought the same thing. But hear me out.

There's a lot of fear and frustration that goes into potty training. Some kids are afraid or confused and that makes the parents frustrated. It makes sense that a baby should be familiarized with the potty and flushing at a very young age to make it a normal activity. Then it eliminates fear. And that's only one benefit.

You can imagine the other benefits. Fewer diaper changes means fewere diapers and money saved, less poop exposure :), and earlier and easier potty training. So what do I do?

I'm starting off slowly. Hunter goes on the potty after eating and sleeping. He stays on for a maximum of 5 minutes so as not to get bored or frustrated. I try to make it enjoyable by singing silly potty songs and he gets one special toilet toy to play with only on the potty. If he pees he gets congratulations with a "good pee pee" and then I follow up with the sign for urination. Hopefully he may eventually be able to tell me that he needs to use the toilet.

Also I'm hoping to learn his bathroom cues. I pretty much have the poop one down, but that only happens once, maybe twice a day. His pee one is a bit harder, but he seems to go right when he wakes up, so I just need to pay attention.

He's peed three times on the potty so far and it surprised the hell out of me. He enjoys being up there with me on the floor because we're at eye level. It's actually nice because it has afforded us some extra bonding time free of a lot of distractions. We'll see how it goes. If he starts getting annoyed or crying I will try again in a few months. I've heard good things about this method and because I have the time at home to do it, I figured I should give it a try.

My friend suggested getting a small potty so when Hunter walks he can use it himself and I think I may procure that item this weekend. I was just a bit ambivalent because cleaning out the poop seems icky to me. Funny because I deal with baby poop and dog poop on a daily basis. And I use cloth diapers so hopefully it won't be any worse than that.

I'll keep you updated.

xoxo,

Lauren

ATHLETE

The Post Where I Disclose My Weight

I was overweight when I got pregnant. In fact, I was OBESE. I had even dropped 8 pounds in the two months prior to conception, but it wasn't enough to lower me to the overweight bracket. I have to say that I was dealing with multiple scales at all the different doctor's offices, hospital and home (of course the most forgiving scale that weighed me a significant amount less) but I'm just going to use my OB's scale because it's probably closest to the awful truth and happens to weigh close to the same as our new scale.

According to that scale my pre-pregnancy weight was 211 pounds. Yowza!

I can't believe I'm putting that out there for everyone to see, but with the holidays just around the corner, I'm hoping this will keep me accountable.

I gained close to 40 pounds during my pregnancy, tipping the scale at 25o pounds the day before Hunter was born. Ugghhh. But I wasn't there for long. I don't recall what I was post delivery but I know I lost 23 pounds the first month and 4 more pounds by 8 weeks. That's when I could finally find time to exercise. They say you can resume exercise by 6 weeks, but I seriously don't know how anyone can do it that soon. Just exercising 3 days a week and juggling a 2 month old was exhausting. But I did it. And by 4 months postpartum I was back to 211.

It felt so good to be at my pre-pregnancy weight yet still pretty discouraging to think that I had close to 50 pounds left to lose to be at my ideal weight. I had been running a few days each week and decided to really step it up and start running more days and longer distances. I also joined Stroller Strides so that Hunter could be a little social while I exercised.

Now I am 6 months postpartum and weigh in at 188 pounds, a 62 pound weight loss. I am nearly half way to my goal with only 24 pounds left to lose. And no longer obese And more important than my weight is that I've developed a real LOVE for running. I have run 5 marathons in the past and a few other shorter races so it's pretty clear that running has always been a hobby of mine. The reason I ran before and had marathon goals is that it kept me exercising. Which is a wonderful reason in itself. But now I run because I love it. I love moving my body and pushing it to it's extreme and then going out the next day and realizing that I can push myself even further. And seeing what my body can do makes me want to take much better care of it.

I also have this dream of running the Boston Marathon and now there may actually be a chance in hell that I can qualify for it in 2012. When I started running again, or should I say jogging, 4 months ago I was jog/walking at a 15:30 minute/mile pace. Now I'm running a mile in under 9:30! I can run 3 miles under 30 minutes! At 188 pounds! Sorry, I had to brag for a minute because I never thought my body could run under a 12 minute mile. But, boy, can it! So maybe qualifying for Boston with an average 8:23 pace isn't too far off.

My goals, in the mean time, are first: to run a 10k this weekend in under 60 minutes, second: to finish the LA Marathon in under 4:20 (DUDE) and lastly to lose my remaining 25 extra pounds in the next 6 months. It's so funny that my weight is now the least important priority because I've always thought it defined me as a person. And it did, it defined me as OBESE. But now there's a new word that defines me: Athlete.

xoxo,

Lauren

You're Half Way Baby

Mr. Hunter you are 6 months old today! Half a year, old boy! I can't believe it. It seems like only yesterday that you were still in me.

(I had only known about you for about 4 weeks, you were the size of a kidney bean!)

(your dad and I hiking 4 days before you were born)

That was such a fun day. It was a beautiful Friday afternoon and your dad and I thought it might be the last time that just the two of us went hiking together so we went to one of our favorite spots just before sundown. Actually, we were hoping it would be the last time we would hike just the two of us because we were so excited to meet you and hike as a family! But I didn't really think I would get to meet you so soon, I wasn't feeling too much action and thought you might come a few days late.

Fast forward to Monday when I went in for a routine check up and Dr. K listened to your heart rate and looked at my fluid levels and thought maybe you should come out a little sooner than planned. I was scared to death, but super excited because I was finally going to get to see your face!

(that was my last meal and I could only eat a few bites because I was so excited)

Your dad, grandma and I camped out in that room for the next 30 hours playing 'Words With Friends' (it's like Scrabble and if you're anything like your dad and me you'll love it when you grow up) with Rachelle, eating Jolly Ranchers (you'll love those too) and watching Tremors (if you have any taste you will hate that movie but because you come from the Dietrich's and Hawkins' I have little hope you will miraculously have good taste.)

By 30 hours that room got pretty boring and you were ready to come out anyway. In fact, you were trying so hard to come out that my body tried to push you out but my pelvis would not accommodate your huge noggin. The doctor was making fun of it yesterday at your six month appointment because it's still quite large for your size (95th percentile head size when the rest of you is in the 50th or 75th percentile.) But Dr. K made the decision that it was time for you to be born, so...

(they took you right out of my tummy and you're sitting on it in this picture)

Remember how I told you that you were so ready to come out that my body tried to push you. Well, normally babies born by c-section aren't all squished up looking because they just come straight from the belly. Unfortunately, your lack of patience (you're definitely our child) and trying to come out too quick made you a little scrunched and gave you a ridiculous cone head for the first few days.

(You even had a little raspberry sized mark on your head for the first few months because you got so squished)

But even with that conical head you were still the coolest little human I'd ever seen. And when I finally got to hold you I never wanted to let you go.

And look at you now, you're growing so fast I forget sometimes how little you were. Everyday you amaze me. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me!

(No more cone head, just my perfect little man.)

xoxo,

Mama

Getting Over Our First Cold

On Tuesday Hunter woke up from his first nap with a panicked scream like I've never heard. So loud that Adam heard it through his techno blasted headphones and came running. (I didn't even towel off from the shower I was taking, perhaps that scared Hunter even more.) It was way worse than any scream from shots and it lasted for about 3 minutes. 3 HORRIBLE MINUTES. It doesn't seem that long but when you have a baby trying to cry and scream and gasping for air 3 minutes is for FREAKING EVER. That was the beginning of Hunter's first stuffed up nose.

Once he calmed down we found he was totally stuffed up. Maybe a sinus headache too? He had a very low fever and we figured he was in pain from the scream so we gave him some baby acetaminophen. He was able to relax a bit but still wanted to play. His sickness was clearly harder on us than on him after the initial screaming incident.

The worst part was all the mucous. He was so congested he could barely eat. I track all of his activities with a cool little app called Baby Esp so I know exactly what his input and output is every day. And on both Tuesday and Wednesday he was eating half his normal intake. But he seemed ok. That mucous just ran a muck though; it had him snoring, he couldn't eat, way more drool and snot than I could have imagined.

To combat all that mucous our pediatrician recommended Baby Simply Saline and the ball syringe. It was great. He was able to eat a bit more after getting the saline rinse. It's kind of like a neti pot so it clears things out for a bit. We also use an anti mold/bacteria humidifier, we have for the past few months because it's so darn dry in the valley and the moisture helps to keep things moist (duh). But it's the dry warm nasal passages that can keep viruses and bacteria nice and comfy. You need that moisture to help things move through.

So today he's all better. He hasn't had a fever since Wednesday morning. So I'm hoping we're on the tail end of this thing. He ate better last night and is eating like crazy this morning, he's already eaten more than he ate yesterday. I think we're definitely on the road to recovery.

Likes

Hunter Likes

Peas!

He actually ate some pea puree, and I was kind of convinced he wouldn't eat many veggies. Hooray!

Frozen burp cloths!

Wash cloths or burp cloths will freeze easily for his favorite teething soother. Thanks Lisa S.

Hanging out naked!

A few months ago he hated being out of his clothes and now he hates being in them.

Chilling with Ringo!

They both love lying on our big bed, especially together!

Daddy!

xoxo,

Lauren

Too Fast!

It's amazing how fast 2 1/2 weeks have gone by. It's not like it's been any busier than usual, well maybe a little. Hunter is turning into a bit of a handful. Not bad at all, quite the opposite actually, he's starting to do so much so it's a lot more work. But soooo fun!

Happy 5 month birthday little man!!!!!

Here's an update

He loves to play!

We got him this bouncer off Craigslist. He loves it! He loves to play with all the activities and he reaches out to play with things hanging out of his reach. He also loves to stand ALL THE TIME. So much so that Adam and my arms were tired passing him between the two of us. So this has definitely taken a weight off our shoulders, literally.

On a side note, notice the white bar in the foreground with shiny screws. Those screws are notches for the bouncer to move up as Hunter grows. A few days ago Hunter had a super cranky day; no naps, lots of screaming and eating. The next day, he wakes up and I put him in the bouncer while I make his morning bottle and realize we have to move the bouncer up a notch. He actually grew overnight!

He's mobile!

I've been putting Hunter in this activity walker for the last 10 weeks just so he can stand. He will hang in it while I shower or just for a few minutes when I need to put laundry in the dryer or something. Last week I brought it into the kitchen while I was cooking and Hunter moved a foot. I was so excited and hollered for Adam to come watch him move at a snails pace. But the next night he moved five feet and we had to put up safety gates. Now he's cruising all over the house! He's also getting interested in the cabinets so we'll be baby proofing those in the coming weeks.

He's also rolling over quite often, he sits in a propped position, and he does this weird downward dog move that may be a crawl in a month or two. It looked like he tried to scoot on his rear today, but he may have just been trying to stand

He's onto solids!

It took him a while to warm up to some of these new tastes. He hates rice cereal with a passion, he purses his lips and won't let anything through. So we moved onto pears which he tolerated a bit more but not completely. He really likes banana and sweet potatoes and tomorrow we will move onto peas. And I've heard pureed avocado is great so we'll try that in the next few days. Yum?!

Here are some other cute pics from the last few weeks:

As for Adam, he continues to work like a madman. I swear as soon as he gets a moment of rest he immediately starts working again. That is good news though. And he's been biking like crazy as well too. He is a total mountain biker dude now.

Not too much is new on my end except for my weight loss and overall fitness. I'm a little over 10 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight and I've dropped a full pants size. I'm running crazy mileage, 11 miles this past Saturday. And I think before I run my marathon in March I might run the Malibu 1/2 marathon in November. Just for fun, ya know ;)

I'll try not to be so tardy with my next post.

xoxo,

Lauren