So Much For BAM

(I spelled trainermomma wrong in my last post so I apologize for that. It's fixed now. Thank you to whoever pointed that out to me. Let me remind you that I was super tired that night, though. But then George slept for 6 hours strait so I felt much better in the morning!)

Right now I'm sitting here, sipping hot chocolate while white fluffy flakes fall from the sky.

Yes, I'm very happy. :)

And, yes, this hot chocolate does have sugar in it. I've failed pretty big time on the no sugar until March 17 thing, but it was a lovely dream.

The crazy thing is that I did it before, why can't I do it again?

I think last time I was better about throwing away all the sugary stuff before we started. I didn't do that this time, and when there are white chocolate chips sitting there just asking to be eaten, what can I do? I have been pretty good, though. It's not like I'm eating a ton of sugar, but it's definitely not gone from my diet completely either.

Life goes on.

What About BAM?

The other day I found out that BAM Triathlon has been canceled. I was so so sad to hear that. This was going to be my next tri, and it was one of my favorite ones that I've done, and I missed it last year so I was really excited for it!

I went to the gym yesterday morning and the lady at the front desk said, "Hey, that's a BAM shirt under there!" Sure enough, I had worn my BAM shirt without even thinking about it. I was probably subconsciously thinking about it, actually. Anyway, she asked if I knew about it being canceled, so I talked to her for a minute about how sad it was that it was canceled. She said that it was because the venue (Soldier Hollow) was just too expensive and bussing everyone from T2 to the start was too expensive so they weren't really making any money with it. Such a shame. I wonder if anyone else will put together a tri in that area - maybe just not at Soldier Hollow where it can be a little cheaper. I don't know. I'd love that, though.

On the bright side, the bike course for BAM goes right by my dad's house so I'm sure I'll be riding that course several times this summer anyway, and I'll get to enjoy the beauty of the valley without having to do a race.

Back to me going to the gym.

You're probably wondering why I haven't posted about running for a while. Well, I was feeling guilty about starting running before my 6 weeks were up, so I decided to wait a little longer. I couldn't wait anymore, though, I just feel like something's missing when I don't have a workout in the morning.

I ran on the indoor track and told myself to go nice and slow, and not to worry if that big guy passed me. Well, he did pass me, but when I saw the muscle definition in his calves and that he wasn't really that big, I didn't feel so bad. That is until the 3rd time he lapped me and Monkey Wrench had just come on my ipod. I decided to see if I could keep up with him, and I did! For 3 laps. Then he stopped to walk and I whizzed by! I told myself to stop, get a drink, and recover, but no, Monkey Wrench was still on. I wanted to keep running fast while it was on, then I would take a break. I really probably shouldn't have done that, but it made me think again about how much nicer it is to run on the track than the treadmill because you have that dynamic. I did take it nice and slow for the rest of my run.

I ran for 36 minutes. I was going to do 35, then I remembered that my sister had done 36 the other day so I decided to do the same as her. I'm so glad she's excited about training again!

I walked for another 4 minutes, then stretched and did some crunches before I went home. I could have done that at home, but Pete says that George has a mommy sensor and will start crying as soon as I pull into the driveway. It's kind of stressful having to plan my workouts around feeding my child, which I think is the real reason why I hadn't gone running in over a week. We will adjust to it, it will just take some time.

I'd like to start getting my workouts done early in the morning before everyone gets up. That's my plan for next week, but we'll see how that goes. It seems impossible when the 5:30 feeding comes around and I'm so dead tired, I can hardly keep my eyes open and it seems like nothing could be better for me than going back to sleep. I think I'm starting to get used to our schedule, though, and George sleeping for 6 hours sure does help! I hope he does that again soon because he didn't do it again last night.

Trainermomma

I can't even tell you how tired I am right now. I am SO not doing the dishes tonight. It's just about 9:00 and I'm heading to bed, but before I do, I wanted to let you know I was featured as a "goal getter" over at trainermomma.com today. This just makes me smile. I love being called a goal getter, and every time I think of a goal I've accomplished, it makes me happy.

Click hear to read the article about me!

I love her blog. She is a great resource for getting in shape, losing weight and/or finding healthy recipes. I'm so honored that she reads my blog! It's also really fun that she just announced that she's pregnant with her baby #4! You'll have to read her post from today, Pregnancy and Exercise: A New Focus. It is really good, and exactly how I feel about taking time out from training to bring a new baby into this world. I'm so grateful I was able to do that!

Ok, that's it for tonight. I'm off to bed! I'll try to get my slacker self to write again soon.

Where's The Winter Love?

The last few days we finally got some snow! Just a little bit. This winter has been seriously pathetic here in the state with "the greatest snow on earth." States in the midwest and east coast are getting buried, and unable to clear all the snow they're getting. What the heck? We can handle the snow, and we want it! Send it our way!

Actually, I know not everyone wants the snow here. I think it's so funny how many people are surprised when it snows (in February) and get all mad saying they want spring. Surely all these people who complain didn't just move here. I mean, this is Northern Utah. When has February ever been spring? We get snow until April or even May every year, and yet people are always surprised. It's just funny, that's all I'm saying.

I used to be one of the people who hated snow. I admit it. But then, last year, Pete decided that we were going to take up snowboarding so we'd have something to look forward to in the winter. I was reluctant. I've lived in Utah my whole life, and I'd never been skiing or snowboarding. For some reason I was always just scared to try it and never really had the chance.

Things were about to change. Pete bought me a beautiful board and some snow clothes, and took me up to Brighton. My first time snowboarding was almost exactly a year ago. It was kind of our Valentine's Day thing, and guess what, I loved it! I wasn't sure taking up snowboarding would really make me like the snow and enjoy winter, but it really did!

I'm not even snowboarding this year, and I'm still mad about the lack of snow we've gotten. I hate it when it rains in the winter. It just makes everything muddy and brown and gray. Don't get me wrong, I love rain in the spring when it makes everything all green and pretty, but in the winter it should snow, dang it!

I can't wait for next year. Next year the snowboarding is going to be epic! (I can go snowboarding while training for an Ironman right?)

We spent today in Heber where there is real snow. They don't have a ton (the above picture is from a few years ago), but at least they have more than the sprinkling we have in the city, and the kids could actually make snow forts. I love living in a state that has seasons. They're all beautiful, especially when the winter is actually white. :)

If you are one of the people who live where it's snowy and hate the snow, I highly recommend taking up some kind of winter sport. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Snowboarding (obviously my personal favorite)
2. Downhill skiing
3. Telemark skiing
4. Cross-country skiing
5. Backcountry skiing
6. Tubing/sledding
7. Snowmobiling
8. Snowshoeing (I hear this is awesome)
9. Kiteboarding
10. Ice/mixed climbing
11. Ice fishing
12. Ice skating
13. Ice hockey
14. Snow sculpting
15. Snow angel making
16. Snow tunnel digging
17. Snow fort building
18. Ice castle creating
19. Snowball throwing/dodging
20. Sleigh riding
21. Hiking/antler hunting (that's what my dad does)

Wow! Look at all that fun stuff (some a little more extreme than others) that can only be done in the winter! What one's your favorite? Am I missing anything?

Now lets go enjoy the snow while it lasts!

PS - none of these pictures are from today, I just dug them out of the last few years photo history.

Being Sneaky

Today George is 5 weeks old. I weighed myself while I was holding him this morning and the total was 158.2, then I weighed myself without him and I was exactly (drumroll please) 145! That means George is a whopping 13.2 pounds! Wow. Those calories are sure going somewhere, chubby boy. :)

But wait, did I say 145? Yay, that's my pre-pregnancy weight! I still want to go down 5 or 10 more pounds, but I'm feeling really optimistic about how things have been going. Pete's been losing weight too so we're really excited about eating healthy again. It really works! Having a baby to nurse about a hundred times a day sure helps too. (I haven't counted, but I think it's around that many times...)

I haven't been perfect about not eating sugar, especially for the first 4 or 5 days. I had to get past Valentine's Day and the aftermath. The chocolate frogs weren't all gone until Friday. I guess that says something that I didn't eat them all in one day! They were so good.

Yesterday and today have been really good, I've pretty much had no sugar. Dang, until I had that little bowl of granola tonight. But that wasn't very much.

I've noticed that for some reason holding a fussy baby really makes me crave sugar! It's the same feeling I used to get when I'd have a hard time getting the kids to bed. Then it was like as soon as they were asleep, I'd get myself a treat. So, I think it's a combination of boredom, stress and habit that gives me these cravings. Also, I think a lot of times I'm just thirsty so when I get a craving, I try to remember to get a drink of water. It's kind of hard sometimes, and sometimes, I just really want to make cookies!

But, for the most part I'm really happy with getting as many fruits and veggies into my meals and snacks as possible. I'm sure I could do better, but we're doing pretty good. Pete's being more strict than me and not really eating bread or rice or anything like that. I'm just trying to stick with of whole grains and brown rice, but I'm avoiding them as much as possible to accommodate him.

Here's a good dinner idea that will help you sneak some more veggies in and avoid refined carbs: Just bake a spaghetti squash, then put your favorite spaghetti sauce on it.

I actually had a lot of tomatoes that I needed to use so here's how I made my sauce:

1 lb. ground beaf

1 onion ,chopped

1 zucchini, shredded (another sneaky veggie)

garlic powder (fresh garlic would be better, but I didn't have any)

1 can tomato sauce

5 or 6 tomatoes, diced

1 tsp. italian seasoning (I just sprinkled it in so I'm guessing the amount)

Then we sprinkled parmesan cheese on top, and it was really good! Ethan was the only one who didn't like it. Even Elle liked it and ate it really good, and she hardly ever eats her dinner, especially the vegetables. I LOVED that they liked this, especially because they didn't think they would, and it showed them that you won't know if you like it or not until you try it.

So give it a try!

Training:

I skipped my "long" run on friday. I guess I was just feeling guilty about starting running before my 6 weeks were up, and felt like I should take a couple more days to rest. I think I'll do my scheduled run tomorrow and take it super easy.

I'm excited for another week of working out (even if it's not a lot yet) and eating mostly plants!

All stocked up. This probably won't last all week at our house. Hey, where'd that candy cane come from?!

Happy eating!

Run #2 and Our 1-month-old

Don't you just love the high calaber of photos I've been posting lately. This is one Elle took of me strugeling to get my compressions socks on. Ah, good times.

Great news! My calves were feeling so much better the next day! I guess all those precautions I took were worth it.

Yesterday it was crazy windy! Like 65mph-winds-bringing-in-a-snow-storm windy! But, the storm didn't hit until the evening, and the temperature was in the 50s during the day. I was also lucky enough to get out on my run at 7:30am before the crazy wind arrived. It was still pretty windy, and I had one guy ask me if I was cold since I was just wearing short sleeves and capris again, but it really wasn't bad. It was actually quite perfect.

I ran about the same path as my last run, and I felt so great! My calves didn't burn the whole time like they did last time. In fact, they didn't really hurt at all. I didn't bring my heart rate monitor so I don't know about my heart, but it was probably about the same. I had to keep reminding myself to take it slow, but I did let myself go hard for the last 3 minutes or so which was really fun! I didn't really wan to stop when I hit 30 minutes, but that last hard push made it a little easier. I had to take the kids to school as soon as I got home, and I was still breathing hard when I got back. I didn't realize it until Pete asked me if I had gone back out and ran some more.

In Other News

Yesterday was Georges 1 month day! He was so excited about it, he stayed awake pretty much the whole day (except for a nap here and there) to celebrate until 11pm! I was exhausted by then! But, then he slept good during the night, and most of today so I forgive him. Of course I forgive him, look at what a sweetie he is!

He’s getting to be quite the inquisitive thing, always looking around trying to see what there is to see, so it’s very fitting if you want to call him Curious George. He does get Georgie Porgie more, though, and of course there’s the occasional G-Max too.

He’s started smiling a bunch. We all get really excited whenever he smiles at us. So cute! He’s kind of smiling in this picture, but he does better ones. It’s just hard to catch, and he won’t do it on cue.

He's such a good baby, always goes back to sleep at night right after getting fed and changed. If he doesn't go right back to sleep, he'll just smile and lay in his crib quietly. Plus, he's started sleeping for 4 hour stretches during the night (and during the day sometimes) so that's really nice!

But, he's waking up now so it's feeding time! Again. Goodnight all!

Let The Journey Begin!

One of my kids took this picture. Aren't they awesome!?

Today was the first official run training for Utah Valley Half Marathon! That's right, I am now officially switched over from the full to the half, and I feel really good about that. I might have been able to pull the full marathon off, but just thinking about trying to get all those miles in when I can barely get away from my baby for an hour was pretty stressful.

It was a nice warm day so I was looking forward to going running all day, but didn't get out until late afternoon when (I thought) George was down for his long nap. I was able to wear short sleeves and capris! So nice. It was quite windy, though. The cold weather is blowing back in.

I just needed to run for 25 minutes. Since I was just going for time, and planning on taking it really easy, I didn't wear the Garmin to stress me out about distance and speed and all that. I did wear my heart rate monitor, though, and it didn't take long for my heart to start pounding and my calves to start burning. I tried to run nice and slow, but my heart rate was much higher than it used to be at that pace. It was in the high 160s pretty much the whole time, and 170 by the end. My heart and my legs were like, "Wait a minute, I thought we weren't doing this any more!"

The good thing was that I felt really good mentally. I was a little worried that I just wouldn't want to start training again after such a long break, but I felt good and had fun being out there! At one point on the bike path, I ran under a hawk that was sitting on a branch about 10 feet above me. I said hello to him, and he stood there looking warily at me. That was cool.

When my 25 minutes were up, I really didn't want to stop. I actually ran for 26:45 because I had to at least finish out my song. My calves were really burning so I stopped and stretched really good before I went in.

I walk in the house and hear George crying and Pete say, "Thank goodness!" I guess he had woken up pretty soon after I left, and he really wanted to eat. Pete was doing his best, but there's not much you can do for a hungry baby when you don't have the milk!

I fed George for like the millionth time today and downed my big hospital mug full of ice water. Then I stretched some more and did the foam roller on my calves. Ouch. I can't believe how sore they were! I have to remind myself that I'm pretty much starting over from scratch. I mean, I haven't ran at all for 3 1/2 months, and before that it was just 1-2 miles if I did feel good enough to get out. I should expect it to be hard and to be sore after what used to be a super easy run.

It's also kind of satisfying to start over like this. I've been at a place where I couldn't run 2 miles before. I've been at a place where I couldn't even run one mile, but it didn't have to stay that way, and it won't this time. I will get back up to the big miles again soon enough, and I'm really excited about the whole journey!

My next run is on Wednesday for 30 minutes. I hope my calves are feeling up to it. I took a hot bath, gave them a little massage, put my compression socks on, and Pete's telling me to do the roller again. A bit much for a 2+ mile run? I don't think so. I need to get as much bang for my recovery buck as I can so I can keep going.

Oh, and after today (since it is Valentine's Day and I had to make heart-shaped brownies (with spinach) since Elle suggested it, and I had to make some sinfully delicious frosting to go on top), I'm going to break up with sugar until St. Patrick's Day. I know St. Patrick's Day isn't really a big sweets day, but it's also my niece's 3rd birthday, and I'm hoping to be invited to a party (hint hint). So, don't let me forget - no sugar! I need to get back on eating clean.

Celebrating Love

It's almost Valentine's Day! My kids have been counting down the days all month like it's Christmas or we're going to Disneyland or something. They LOVE Valentine's Day. I love Valentine's Day too, what a great holiday where we get to celebrate LOVE and tell the people the people in our lives how much we love and appreciate them.

My kids are not the types to just buy valentines to pass out to their friends, no they have to make them. That's half the fun anyway, isn't it?! It's also nice that all I had to buy was construction paper and some glitter glue and they were set. They spent half the day yesterday in their pjs working on their various Valentine projects. It was simply wonderful that I only had to help here and there, and could mostly just sit and watch while I took care of the baby.

When the afternoon rolled around, I realized what a nice day it was outside, and finally had the kids (and myself) get dressed so we could go for a walk. I got George all in his sling and put my big jacket on top. For some reason Elle started crying about walking and said she wanted to go in the stroller. Ok, I got the stroller out and (surprise, surprise!) the tires were still flat, and I could not find the tire pump. So then she asks, "Why can't I ride my bike?"

No reason, I guess, so we got it out. Then, of course, the other kids wanted to ride their bikes. But Mindy's back tire was totally flat so we were back to the problem of not being able to find the tire pump in the huge mess we call a garage. Finally, I realized that it was inside because Pete's bike was in on the trainer. Yay! So we got all the tires pumped up. Then I had to go take my jacket off because I was too hot!

The kids had a great time riding their bikes around the block, and I walked slowly behind them. (Actually I walked as fast as I dared with the baby, but they're speedy on their bikes!) There were a couple crashes as the kids got used to riding their bikes again, but overall they did really well. Here they are getting ready to go down the "big" hill.

I know, I need to get Mindy a helmet that fits, and Ethan too. He actually hit his head on the sidewalk once when he crashed and I felt really bad. He was ok, though.

Then we went down to the park and I had a great time just being outside and watching the kids climb around. George was a little angel and just slept the whole time.

It's been a long time since they've been able to play at a park!

It was so great to be able to do something fun with the kids. It seems like it's been a really long time since we've done anything like this, and it was so wonderful to be outside and moving! Now I'm all excited for spring, but I know we still have a long ways to go.

I am so grateful for my kids, I love them so much.

I came across this video today when I came home early from church with George, and thought it would fit perfectly with this post and with Valentine's Day.

A little kid singing a primary song gets me every time. I'm so grateful that my family can be together forever! Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Review - Straces Laces

Around the time I first got pregnant, I received an email asking me if I would like to try out some of these laces for free, and what color would I like. I wrote back and said I would love to try them, and pink please.

I got my Straces laces in the mail very quickly, but I was in the midst of feeling sick and overwhelmed with being pregnant so I just put them in my closet with my running shoes and they sat dormant for several months. Now that I've finally got my energy and will to run back, I thought I'd dust off the old running shoes and put in the new laces.

I kind of wish I would have gotten yellow so it would look like the original laces, but the pink looks pretty good too. I actually don't think yellow was even an option.

When I first got the laces, I couldn't think how a different shoe lace could possibly make a difference, and how great could they possibly be?

Well, the difference is that these shoe laces are stretchy. You just lace them, put them on and knot them where they feel comfortable. Then you can just slip your shoe on and off.

Wait.

I don't have to tie my shoes in transition anymore? How awesome is that!? Plus, I don't have to untie them and loosen them every time I put them on. Man, I really should have put these in my everyday shoes while I was pregnant. That would have made things a little easier!

"Ok," I thought, "this is a great idea, but is it going to work with my very narrow shoes that are a pain in the butt to put on?" The answer is yes, yes it does work with my shoes! I can't say I've tested them out in a transition-type setting at all, and sadly, I'm not scheduled for another tri until July. I'll have to wait and see how much they help my transition times, but I can already tell they will make getting ready for a run that much easier and quicker which will be great when I need to go running at 6am and I'm right on the verge of just going back to bed.

Thank you Straces!

PS I also think these would be great for kids who tend to have un-tied shoes a lot. I think I'll be picking up a few more pairs soon. Click here to check out their site.

More on Cloth Diapers

Because of the huge response to my post about cloth diapering (yes, I consider 4 comments a huge response... There were more on facebook too), I thought I'd do a little follow-up post.

I was surprised and excited to see how many of you also use cloth diapers! (Even my sister-in-law! I should have known that!) I think, perhaps, it is becoming a little more mainstream. Or it could be that the people I know are all just really cool and edgy like that. :)

Anyway, I had some people ask about what kinds I use so I decided I'd show you. George and I did a little photo shoot the other day just for you!

These are the ones we use the most. I also have green and blue, he just happened to be wearing the white ones at the time. They are the Thirsties Duo Wraps Diaper Cover with Unbleached Indian Infant Prefold Diapers. The cover is snapped up into the smallest size, but since then, I've moved them up to the middle size, and I love the snap closures because I don't have to worry about them wearing out. I got them in this package from nellsnaturalbaby.com which comes with 30 diapers and 4 covers. It's supposed to be enough to wash every 2 days, but I pretty much have to do a wash every day. Maybe a day and a half. I find them very handy, especially since the diapers double as burp cloths, and I love a good absorbent burp cloth! I only have to change the cover a couple times a day, and I haven't really had any problems with leaking yet. But maybe he's not old enough to really have leaks, I can't remember, I haven't had a baby for 4 years! I still think it's crazy that I have a baby again...

With all this extra laundry, I'm very lucky to have a sweet little helper who loves to fold the diapers for me.

As you can see, though, the diapers are all getting stained. Any tips on how to get the stain out? I'm still not sure what I can use on them.

I also have some Thirsties in the newborn size with velcro that my friend, Rachel, lent to me. George is starting to grow out of those already, though, and I don't use them too much because they are mostly in girl colors since Rachel had a little girl.

Rachel also lent me some newborn (xs) All-in-one diapers. They are the bumGenius brand, and they are super cute!

These are really easy, just like putting on a disposable diaper. They fit really well, and are a lot trimmer than the prefold with a cover.

George has pretty much grown out of these ones. I didn't use them very much because I didn't want to get them all stained because they were too cute, also I mostly have pretty pink and purple ones. :) These green ones are great for a little boy, though! They do take longer to dry, and that was a problem at the rate I'm going through diapers right now.

I had actually planned on getting All-In-Ones from the start, but my practical/thrifty side won out because they are quite expensive ($13 each), and I would have had to get at least 12 of them to get me though a day. Plus he would have grown out of them really quick, and I would have had to get bigger ones already.

Well, that's enough diaper talk. I'm staying up way to late again! I have been super tired lately and I've been getting a lot of headaches. I use to never get headaches! I think I'm just sleep deprived so I'm going to go to bed now.

First Run Back!

I was supposed to wait 6 weeks before doing any real exercising. They told me not to do anything more than walking. Well, today I went out for a "walk." I decided I'd try running a little just to see how it felt, though.

As soon as I popped my earbuds in and started off down the sidewalk, I just couldn't help but smile. It just felt so good to be out doing my thing again! I made it a whole 2 minutes before I just had to run, and it felt so good! I had planned on just running (I mean walking) outside, but after a few blocks, I found myself turning towards the rec. center where to run on their indoor track because it was really cold! I had a long sleeve shirt and jacket, but no gloves or ear covers. I probably would have gotten used to it after a little while, but I also liked the idea of staying close to home in case Pete called to tell me I needed to get home and feed the baby or if I got some weird pain or something.

I ran for 30 minutes, taking a couple walk breaks for a minute or so each. I wasn't really too worried about distance or time or anything, I just wanted to try it out. It was really fun running again, though I still felt kind of tentative, and didn't go too hard. I also noticed that my heart is what felt it the most, and was the reason I would decide to stop and walk. I didn't wear my heart rate monitor, but maybe I will next time.

Since I was being such a rebel today, I decided to go one step farther and vacuum. That felt good too! :)

And now, George wants to eat again. Goodnight.

The Touch, The Feel of Cotton

Today George is 3 weeks old and he's getting so big already! Note how his newborn onsie can't even snap. Of course it doesn't help that he has such a big diaper on either.

I've started using cloth diapers with this baby. I hadn't done it before with my other kids pretty much because I never really considered it a valid option. I never even thought about it. Everyone gives you disposable diapers at your baby shower, you see all the diaper commercials and the baby isle in the store is filled to the brim with disposable diapers. Who uses cloth diapers anymore anyway? Well, two of my friends who recently had babies started using cloth diapers, and you can read about how much they like it on their blogs here and here, and they inspired me.

Now I hate to even imagine how much space in a landfill I've used up with 3 kids worth of diapers. They say each baby goes through about a TON of disposable diapers in their lifetime. (I actually can't remember where I read that, so that might not be the right amount, but google "cloth vs. disposable diapers" and you can get all sorts of statistics about it) So, yeah, that's 3 tons for our family. Gross. Plus, I hate it when I see old, disgusting used diapers on the side of the road because for some reason this always happens. I don't know how. Do they fall out of the garbage truck or are people just throwing them out their car windows as they haphazardly change their babies while they're driving?

Anyway, suffice it to say that I am pretty grossed out by disposable diapers now and I feel so good that out of the 250 or so times I've changed George so far in his short lifespan, only a handful of those diapers have ended up in the garbage (mostly because I used the ones they gave me while I was in the hospital). I don't feel like I'm waisting anything when I change him either. That just makes me feel good. It also makes me feel good to be putting cloth, and not garbage (what are those diapers made out of anyway?) on my baby. No offense to anyone who is using disposable diapers. Like I said, that's what I did for 3 babies without a second thought.

I weighed myself again today, and I'm back up to 149.2, but I did weigh myself at a different time of day. It probably didn't help that I ate 3 cookies after our nephew's blessing today either. But they were delicious! Here's our not-so-little family at said baby blessing:

And, just because I know you can't get enough of my kids (oh, wait, that's me!), here's Elle with her beloved little brother yesterday.

Hungry, Hungry Hippos

Last night George woke up every 2 hours wanting to eat. It seems that's all that boy wants to do, and if he's awake for an hour, he wants to eat again. I even took him in the car yesterday after feeding him half an hour before, and he got so mad!

Of course, with George being so hungry all the time, and getting his calories from me, I'm also hungry all the time! It doesn't hurt that this morning, I was too busy feeding him, changing him, and holding him because he didn't want to be put down to make my own breakfast until almost 11:00. By then I was starving, and ate a ton!

I just need to be careful and make sure I'm eating the right stuff, and getting plenty to drink, and I will hopefully not get as chubby as George is getting!

I was so tired this morning. It's now 10:00 and I really need to go to bed. Here's hoping he sleeps for more like 3 hours at a time tonight!