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!

George - 2 Weeks!

Yesterday George turned 2 weeks old. I went to the first half of church while Pete stayed home with him, then I came back and we switched. This is how they were when I got home. So cute!


I can't believe it's already been two weeks! But at the same time, it's hard to believe that we've only had this little guy for two weeks!

I took George to his 2 week check up today, and he weighs 9lbs 9oz now (he was 8lbs 4 oz at birth) and measured 21 1/2 inches (he was 20 at birth)! Way to go little man. He's going to be a big boy like his brother!

Tonight we put up this growth chart. Mindy is almost 2 years older than Ethan, and look how close he is to passing her up!

While we're on the subject of sizes... I weighed myself yesterday and I'm down to 148. Three pounds to go! Wahoo! This morning, when I was up with George at 5:30, I almost seriously thought about going to the gym. Then I decided that I should give myself another week at least, and that rest is probably more important right now so I went back to sleep. I am excited to start training though!

I do need to decide for sure if I want to switch from the full to the half marathon in June, though. Last year the half sold out by the end of March, and they're already way ahead of that pace this year. Any thoughts?

The Weight Game

I'm not one to put much stock in how much I weigh. Before I got pregnant, and even when I did my Ironman, I weighed probably 10-20 lbs more than my lowest weight, but I was in much better shape! But it is fun to look at the numbers sometimes, and I have no problems putting those numbers out here on the internet for the world to see (gulp).

Ironman Weight: around 140 (It was even 140.6 once and that really made me smile!)

Pre-pregnancy Weight: about 145

Pregnancy Weight at last dr. visit: 168 (total of 23 lbs gained)

Post-pregnacy Weight when I came home (2 days after baby was born): 159

I don't know how I only lost 9 lbs after having a baby that weighed 8lbs 4oz, but these were different scales so it's probably not totally accurate.

Weight 1 week after baby (today): 152.4

So that, my friends, is how you lose 16 lbs in a week without being on The Biggest Loser! I LOVE nursing!

My goal is to get down to 135-140 again before Utah Half which is 8 months away. I think with a little help from George to burn off the calories, I'll get there easily. That is, if I don't eat too many carrot cookies. I'm planning on making some today. I can't wait! But, first a nap.

PS - I LOVE not being pregnant anymore. It's the best! :)

PPS - Happy 1 week anniversary, George!

Babies, Babies, Babies

Warning: This is a birth story so if you don't like that kind of thing, go ahead and skip this post.

And, uh, it's a little long.

Friday morning my dad came over bright and early so he could be here for the kids while I went in to get induced. Maybe. First I had an appointment with my doctor to decide if we really wanted to induce me or not.

After a few hours at the doctor's office, being hooked up to some monitors, getting an ultrasound and a blood test, we decided it would be better to wait. I was dilated to 4cm, though. That was good news, but I kind of thought it would be more after having contractions all Wednesday night that were 3-4 minutes apart. We had actually planned on going to the hospital Thursday morning if they were still going, but they weren't.

But, it wasn't like nothing got done on Friday! The guys came and put the new window in the girls' room downstairs, and my dad brought a door that he put on! It was so exciting! Since my dad was here with his truck, I had him take me to Home Depot so we could get the rest of the stuff for the room. I ended up spending a lot more than I had planned!

Pete and I got to work painting that night after the kids were in bed. We did one coat of the pink that night, then another coat in the morning. I also painted the downstairs bathroom blue, and, oh, it's so pretty! I love both colors! (pictures to come... sometime)

My dad came back Saturday to help us (Pete) put wainscoting up on the walls, and we got my brother to come help too. I helped out a little, but I mostly stayed out of the way, cleaned the house and watched kids.

Watching a movie with the cousins - they were really happier about this than they look! (Our next project is to fix that wall behind the couch.)

It was probably 8 or 9 by the time everyone left, and the girls were all set to sleep down there for the first time. They were so excited! (I wish I would have taken more pictures!!)

Anyway, just before everyone left I decided I should start timing contractions because I was starting to have a lot again. They were the same kind I was having on Wednesday: not painful, just really tight and uncomfortable. They were about 4 minutes apart, but I wasn't too concerned. I figured I'd just go to bed and have a repeat of Wednesday night.

I woke up during the night several times, still noticing the contractions, but they were about the same. Then at about 5:00, Ethan woke up with a bad dream. I got him calmed down, and when I got back in bed I started timing again. My contractions were still about 4-5 minutes apart so I woke Pete up and told him we probably should go to the hospital soon, but that I wanted to wait just a little longer before we called anyone. I just hate calling people so early in the morning!

So, I laid in bed for about an hour, and I was just thinking, "I should get up and get something to eat before we go because it's probably going to be a long day and I'll need my strength." Plus my stomach was growling.

Then, all of a sudden I sat up, saying, "Woah!" because my water had just broken! I probably scared Pete to death! He jumped up and grabbed me a towel. I could not believe how much water it was either! Yikes! By the time I got to the shower, I had my next contraction, and BOY what a difference that water breaking makes. It was already really painful!

Pete called my dad and our neighbor to come over until my dad got there. She was very nice to come over so early in the morning! She got here at about 6:30.

We were all settled in our awesome, huge room at the hospital by about 7am. My contractions were really strong and close together, but I really wanted to try to do this one naturally. I kept telling myself, "I can do this. I've done an Ironman - I can do this." At one point, Pete reminded me of this, and I said, "An Ironman is a lot more fun!" He was a great coach, though. He also kept having me think of the contractions as one more mile I could tick off or just a hill I had to get over, and he kept having me imagine all the people cheering at the finish line.

I made it until 9 (2 hours), then I was crying and shaking and saying "I can't do it!" and I was hardly getting any relief between contractions. When the nurse checked me again, I was only at 4.5 cm so I told her, "Ok, Epidural then." Now I could understand how people on TV get to the hospital and want an epidural right away. I've always just had it get painful so gradually that I've been able to wait a while.

The nurse told me that with the epidural I might progress a lot faster because I would be able to relax and let the contractions do their work. I was NOT relaxing before the epidural. After I got it, I was so happy. I just laid there thinking about how this was the first time in 9 months that I was able to just lay there without feeling any pain in my belly, back or hips.

It was kind of funny because I was just laying there texting my sister for a while. I thought my phone would have kept better track of the time of these texts, but it only shows the time twice. I'm thinking there must have been more time passing than it shows. (maybe Katie's phone shows the times and she can get me that info...) Anyway, here's part of our conversation:

8:57am

me: I'm in the hospital. We'll get to meet George soon!

katie: What happened? All that work yesterday

me: I guess so! My water broke while I was laying in bed this morning. It was pretty crazy!

...

me: I just got an epidural. I like.

katie: Well, now you know what it's like to go into labor

me: Yeah, I'm so happy about that!

...

me: She just checked me and I'm 8cm! Wow!

katie: Two more to go!

me: !

...

10:02 am

katie: Is he here yet?

me: Not yet but I'm at a 9 now. We're really close!

I loved my epidural and was glad to just be excited now. I was sublimely happy from here on out for the next few days. I did start feeling nauseated again right before they had me start pushing, but once I started pushing I felt better.

I don't know how long I pushed for, but it was a little while, and at one point my doctor said, "The baby's not doing great so lets try to hurry and get him out." That made me nervous, and helped motivate me to push really hard. They had set up a mirror for me so I got to watch him come out which was really surreal, and it was such an awesome feeling to get him out! I don't think there's anything that's more of a relief than to have your baby come out, see how beautiful he is and hear him cry.

George was finally born at about 11am, 5 days after his due date. He was 8 pounds 4 ounces - my biggest baby. My others were all in the 7 pound range. Only 20 inches long, though. I think that's shorter than Ethan was. He has reddish blond hair, almost exactly the same color as mine, and he's just so sweet!

(first bath)

I love that I was able to go into labor myself! It was so much better that way! I'm also so glad I didn't have to have another C-section. Those really hurt! :)

Recipes!

Just so you know, I've updated my Ironman post, adding in pictures. I don't know how I can call myself a blogger and not have put pictures in there in the first place!

Also, just so you know, I haven't had the baby yet. :)

While I'm sitting here timing contractions, I thought I'd share some fun recipes I've been enjoying lately! (I'm so happy to have my appetite back!)

Aloo Gobi

This first one is an vegetarian Indian recipe that is actually from the bonus real of Bend It Like Beckham. If you haven't seen that movie, you should watch it. It's pretty good, and while you're at it, watch how to make Aloo Gobi, then use this recipe to make some for yourself sometime.

It is so good. I've tried making this a couple times, but this recipe is the best I've tried and it turns out so good! It's like you're eating at an Indian restaurant (minus the naan. I just need to learn how to make that good now). Plus, you can feel good about what you're eating while you enjoy it, especially if you make some brown rice to go with it.

Now for Dessert

I actually have two kinds of cookies I've really enjoyed making recently. I need to cut back on making cookies, but at least these cookies are healthy-ish.

First: Oatmeal White Chocolate Chip Craisin Cookies

(adapted from Nestles Choc-Oat-Chip Cookies)

These were also slightly inspired by RubySnap (formerly known as DoughGirl) with her Audry cookie: "Almond dough packed full of adoration, almonds, cranberries and white chocolate." I usually hate it when people put nuts in cookies, but these cookies are an exception! Anyway...

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
3/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/2 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup craisins

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat brown sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs, milk and vanilla and almond extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats, morsels and craisins; mix well. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 10 minutes for chewy cookies or 12 to 13 minutes for crispy cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 1 minute; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Second: Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies

(adapted from Martha Stewart's recipe, thank you very much!)

Oh. My. Gosh. These are so good! My mouth is watering just thinking about them...

I made these one day when I happened to have some left-over cream cheese frosting and grated carrots and Elle wanted to make cookies with frosting. They were perfect!

Ingredients

Makes about 25 sandwiches

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots, (about 3 large carrots)
1 cup raisins (I did not put raisins in mine. Yuck! But, please feel free to put them in yours if you wish.)


Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugars and butter; beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until well combined.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger; stir to combine. Gradually add flour to butter mixture; mix on a low speed until just blended. Mix in oats, carrots, and raisins. Chill dough in refrigerator until firm, at least 1 hour. (I didn't chill mine. They were thick enough for me for some reason, on the reviews people said it was really thin, so use your best judgment here)

Using a 1/2-ounce ice-cream scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. Transfer to oven, and bake until browned and crisped, rotating pan halfway through baking to ensure even color, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat baking process with remaining dough. Once cooled completely, use an offset spatula to spread about 2 teaspoons of cream-cheese filling onto a cookie. Sandwich together with a second cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

(We didn't store these in the fridge because they didn't really last long enough to store. I did only make half a batch with just enough for everyone to have one for family night. And one for Elle and I to "try" beforehand.)

So, there you go. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did! And I'll try to stop think about them now. I mean, now. NOW.

40 Laps for 40 Weeks & The Plan

Thank you all for your support and encouragement! It really does help me out a lot to know so many people are thinking about me. :)

This morning I decided I didn't want to sit around waiting to go into labor again so I went to the pool and swam 40 laps - one for each week I've been pregnant. It seemed only fitting. Plus it was a good little workout.

I broke it up into 10 sets of 4 to help me keep track, and here's what I did:

1. 4 kick board/fins
2. 4 free
3. 4 pull buoy/paddles
4. 4 free
5. 4 pull buoy/paddles
6. 4 free
7. 4 butterfly - I've never even done a full lap with butterfly, usually just a few strokes at the end for fun, but the guy next to me was doing it and it looked like fun so I thought it would be good to mix things up a bit. It was painfully slow, though! Plus, it felt like it was going to use up all my energy so I switched back to free after 2 laps. Then I felt like a big ol' quitter and switched back to butterfly for the last lap.
8. 4 pull buoy/paddles
9. 4 free
10. 2 kick board/fins + 2 backstroke

It took me about 40 minutes to do all that, which isn't bad considering I was taking it easy and all the belly drag and whatnot. It was so nice to be able to do this while Elle was at preschool so I didn't feel rushed or anything. By the time I got out, though, I was having some pretty bad heartburn. Yuck. I will be happy when that's all over! I'll be happy to get rid of this big belly too. Pete likes me when I'm pregnant and I have to say I like some of the added curves, but the belly's getting old. It's so weird to think that there's a baby in there!!

I feel really good today. Too good! I'm really going to to try not to worry about it. It will happen when it happens. Later will actually be better because then we might actually get the girls' room done before George comes!

Anyway. We had a nice little teaching moment last night with the kids that I wanted to write down.

We've been reading The Book of Mormon as a family, and last night we were in Mosiah 3 and we got to verse 11 which says:

For behold, and also his ^ablood ^batoneth for the sins of those who have ^cfallen by the transgression of Adam, who have died not knowing the ^dwill of God concerning them, or who have^eignorantly sinned.

Pete stopped to explain to the kids what that means. (I love that he does this!) How some people believe that if someone dies without knowing about Jesus, they go to Hell, but that that's not true. The kids were asking questions, and Elle said, "If there wasn't Hell, then people wouldn't go to Hell," or something like that. (That sounds kind of funny coming from a 4 year old.) Pete decided he had some more explaining to do so he drew a diagram of The Plan of Salvation that looked almost exactly like this:

He explained that there isn't really just a Heaven and Hell, that all the kingdoms of glory are really nice, and that Outer Darkness is very small and not very many people will go there. We want to make it to the Celestial Kingdom because that's where Heavenly Father and Jesus will be, but you have to be perfect to live there so there has to be a place for everybody. Pete explained that even people who do bad things, can repent and get to the Celestial Kingdom. (For more info about this click here.)

We talked about how George is right on the line between Pre-Earth Life and Mortality. Isn't that exciting? Of course, we don't really know when you actually leave pre-earth life and when you enter mortality. I mean, he's definitely alive and moving around right now, but he's not born yet so it's hard to put a label on that.

Then, when Pete asked if anyone had any questions, Ethan asked, "Why did they make this world anyway?"

Elle pipes right in, "So we could live here!"

It was so cute, and such a perfect answer! Leave it to a child to keep things plain and simple. As adults, we tend to over-analize everything and make things more complicated than they need to be. I mean, I'm sure the Plan is much more complicated than we can ever understand, but all we really need to understand is that Heavenly Father and Jesus did make the Earth so that we could come live here, and so we could get our bodies and our families. It's a wonderful plan. I'm so glad I know about it and that I can teach my children where they came from and what we're trying to accomplish in this life.

Last night I also got released from my calling in the Primary at church which is really sad, but it will also be good to be able to just focus on the baby for a little while. I'm so excited to meet the newest person in our family! Hopefully it will be in the next few days!

1-11-11

Well, today came and went just like any other day with no signs of labor whatsoever. It would have been too good to be true to have my baby ON my due date, though.

I had a doctor appointment yesterday and at least I am progressing! I'm dilated to 3+ cm and 50% effaced. I did tell her that I really don't want to be induced so we set up an appointment for Friday morning so she can monitor the baby and do an ultrasound just to make sure everything's ok to wait. However, she doesn't want me to go more than 7-10 days over so if we don't induce on Friday, we will between the 18th and 20th.

Now I'm feeling really torn about being induced or not. I know it's safer for me to go into labor myself, but I just don't know if I can do that. I was induced for my first two four days after their due dates, then had a c-section with Elle because she was breech, so I don't know what would have happened with her. So, we're thinking maybe we'll do the induction after all. I do want my doctor to check me out first on Friday before we decide, but it would be a lot more convenient since my dad already has the day off and is planning on coming to watch the kids. Crazy?

I can't decide! Hopefully I'll just go into labor myself Friday morning, then I won't have to worry about it.

1 Week to Go!

Are we there yet?

Wanna know something weird? The past few days (not counting yesterday), I've been feeling so much better! It's weird. I've had this surge of energy, I haven't felt sick very much and I'm actually getting a ton of stuff done! It's so nice. I've been nesting like crazy! The house is cleaner than it's been in a long time, we got the crib set up in our room, we got a car seat, I've been happily making dinner every night and I even made bread today!

That isn't to say that I'm not terribly uncomfortable, but that kind of goes without saying, doesn't it? I mean, I think I would explode if someone poked my belly with a pin like they do in cartoons!

Watch out for that little orange, poky dinosaur belly! (?)

Sunday night, right after bragging about feeling so much better, I had the worst night! I get this pain in my left ribs that feels like something is pushing on them (which is probably exactly what it is), and sometimes it gets so bad it even kind of goes numb. I usually only get this when I'm sitting up, but Sunday night I had it all night and couldn't find a position to make it go away. On top of that, my hip kept hurting, I was feeling sick and my mind would not let me rest! Ug, it was terrible. I finally got up at around 3 for a little while, then I was able to go to sleep for a couple hours after that. Luckily, the kids were back in school on Monday so I was able to take a nap pretty much the whole time Elle was in preschool. I did feel a little better after that.

Last night I slept so much better, and I have felt really good today! Taking advantage of feeling good, I took Elle to the childcare at the gym and went for a nice easy swim. It felt so good to be back in the water. I haven't been swimming for probably 2 or 3 weeks (Or more?), not counting taking the kids swimming twice during Christmas break. I just love that I feel like a normal person again when I'm swimming.

I swam for about half an hour and did a total of 1550 yards.

Tonight I also got to go out to dinner with my sister-in-laws. They brought me cute baby presents and we had a nice time talking about all things baby. One of them just had a baby and the other one is newly pregnant so it's on all of our minds!

It was a great day. I can do this!

Happy New Year!

Wow, I can't believe it's already 2011! I'd like to say that this year just flew by, but then I think back to all my long days feeling sick and I can't decide if it did or not. It does seem weird because I'm now planning for the same race schedule (almost) I was last year at this time, so it's like last year didn't happen.

Looking back at my New Years post from last year, here are my resolutions for 2010 and how I did:

1. Pay the credit card off (We DID have it paid off before Christmas... I don't dare look at it now.)
2. Have family home evening every Monday (I'd say we had family night most Mondays, and the kids now expect it so that's good!)
3. Read from the scriptures every day (I may have skipped a few days)
4. Finish the whole Bible (Um, yeah, the Bible is really long! I'm still in the middle of Psalms. Pete says I'm crazy and that nobody reads the whole Bible, but I'll keep plugging along.)
5. Be more patient with my kids (... this one's hard to really track. I think I'm getting better though)
6. Give my kids more positive feedback (Also hard to track. I'll keep working on it.)
7. Go to the temple more often (This really didn't happen. We only went a few times. Sad.)
8. Finish a marathon in under 4 hours (No marathon for me last year.)
9. Qualify for Age Group Nationals at BAM (No BAM either.)

Getting pregnant really changed a lot of my plans for the year and made it a lot less eventful, but it was still a really great year! I am just so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and fun children, and I'm excited for the new baby who we'll be meeting really soon now! I know 2011 will be a great year too, and I can't wait to get started!

Last night I went out for New Years Eve for the first time since y2k I think! We have some awesome friends who offered to have the kids sleep over at their house so we could go out, and I'm so thankful to them! We had reservations with some friends at a fancy restaurant called Forage where we had a 9 course "tasting" meal. It was so cool. They brought us the menu, but we didn't have to make any decisions. The waiter just started bringing us food. Each course was really little, but very beautifully presented and very good, and we had a lot of time between courses to chat with our friends. It ended up taking 2 1/2 hours for the whole thing, and we were all just amazed at how delicious some of the things were. We even got to try squab ("What is a squab anyway?" "You know what a squab is. It's kine of like a pigeon I guess.") which was delicious, and Elk. I've eaten Elk a ton, but our friend had never had it before, and this Elk was like a really good steak. It must have been farm raised. Everything was local and seasonal which is really cool. It was so much fun! It might have to be our new tradition.

We got home at around 10 so we just watched a movie and had cheese and crackers. The movie ended at exactly 12 too! It was a fun night, and since we didn't have kids this morning we went out to breakfast. We wanted to go to The Park Cafe which is our favorite for breakfast, but it was closed so we went to Coachman's instead which was really good. I'm excited for the kids to get home, though. Oddly enough, I miss them! I even dreamt about Elle. I hope she had a good time and didn't wake up with any nightmares like she is prone to do.