31 January 2012

january is the new spring

Hyacinth bulbs popping up, steaks on the grill, baseball out in the front yard.  I love spring.  Oh wait...

It's freaking January! 65 degrees in KC on January 31? This is crazy talk.

I've been taking advantage of this weird yet wonderful "winter" weather to go jogging with my big brown dog and trick-bike-riding boy. I made it back up to two miles pretty quickly.  I need to now push myself to go for three. I'm trying to decide on a 5k to run this spring.  Why is it neccessary to start these things at 6:30 am in May?  There's gotta be a 9 o'clock start time out there somewhere. Still searching. 

I did come across an obstacle race called Ruckus KC.  It's March 31 and looks like a muddy mess. But a muddy mess with afternoon start times!  I'm cool with everything except monkey bars.  I am not a monkey.  I cannot swing from my arms over a 10 foot drop into muddy water.  That kind of freaks me out.  But maybe I need to conquer my fears. And drag the hubs along for motivation.

Time for a weight check:
  current weight: 191
  starting weight (dec 15): 196
  goal weight: 160
  pounds lost: 5
  pounds to go: 31

I was stuck at 192 forever and then just had to kick it into high gear to finally get down to 191.  I've been taking Title Boxing classes about 3 times per week, running a couple times, walking over lunch and cutting way down on sugar.  It really is more about diet than anything though.  I've had some weak moments, but managed to stay pretty strong this week.

Looking forward to the 180s in the next week or two! I'm a little flabbergasted (or blubbergasted?) that I was 188 lbs at 30 weeks pregnant.  How was that possible?  I thought I was on such a great track to not have a lot of baby weight to worry about. Wrong-o. Those last 9-10 weeks are killer.

16 January 2012

in one weekend

oh my how fast my baby girl is growing! in one weekend she began sitting up from a crawl position, took a few crawls forward, and started babbling.

sunday morning she was "talking" in her crib at 4:30 am. i go in to check on her and there she is, sitting up with her arms stretched up to me saying "bah bah bah bah". i guess if you have to wake up at 4:30 am on a sunday, this is a good way to do it.

update from the very next weekend...

first tooth (finally) popped through
crawling quickly went to pulling up
standing in her crib when you get her in the morning

monthly updates just aren't cutting it. i can't keep up with this girl!

15 January 2012

allergic to goldfish?

thursday night baby girl broke out with a rash all over her.  we called the after hours nurse to confirm the benedryl dosage, and waited for morning.  friday the hives had moved around, and were even worse.  i called the nurse, and had to wait for the doc to arrive in the afternoon. 

so Dr. Mom on the case...

we tried to think of what she had eaten that day. the only thing new was a can of gerber peach puffs, even though she had eaten banana puffs before. there are only two ingredients (other than peach puree/juice) found in the peach puffs which are not in the banana puffs: sunflower lecithin (sunflower seed meat) and annatto extract color. 

i found where there are no known cases of allergies to sunflower seeds, but the annatto extract is a different story. this additive is mostly used in cheesy cracker-type foods (such as goldfish) and organic powder mac & cheese. i learned companies do not legally have to list the exact food additives, so glad Gerber does. i found an article online where a mom found out that her child was allergic to foods with annatto extract. the reaction described was exactly like baby girl's.

i was so proud of myself for diagnosing our little one... until the doctor finally came in and called back.  he was confident the reaction was because of the amoxicillan she started taking seven days ago.  it was her second 10-day dosing in as many months, so i didn't think that was possible that she would just now have a reaction. sure enough, the top google results say reactions to amoxicillan can start on the seventh day. however i don't understand why she didn't have a reaction the first time around.

the rash took several days to go away, but now baby girl is back to her creamy white complexion. my Dr. Mom bubble has burst, but glad to know for the future what to avoid.  i'm still a little hesitant on the puffs, but they may come back down from the top of the cabinet here in a couple weeks.

11 January 2012

8 months


emma is 8 months old and (drumroll...) is rocking her first clippy hairbow!  she has now been crawling backwards for a month.  she just can't make her arms go foward. I think this girl is going to go straight to walking. she just started going from crawl position to sitting. still not a single tooth in sight, but she loves her finger foods... and it shows in her size 18-month clothes! cheerios are her fave.

right now she's getting over strep throat, but she recovers as quickly as she gets sick.  she's just now starting to sleep through the night again. (the couple weeks around six months were just a teaser.)

favorite toys are her activity table and anything she can bang on the hard floor (such as a wooden spoon and rubber spatula). favorite songs are "itsy bitsy spider" and "old mcdonald". but she really just loves anyone to sing or talk to her.  she lights up with the most beautiful gummy smile you've ever seen!

i had almost two weeks off of work in between Christmas and New Years and we did our best to make the most of it! in addition to all the holiday festivities, we also went to a rodeo and a mini water park this month!


update on this big kid coming soon!

09 January 2012

hockey in focus

yesterday, as we were watching our son at hockey practice, gazing at the other players on the ice rink and not really paying attention to what he was doing, i told the hubs about how i was just like that. it was in jr. high volleyball where the coach pointed out that i would have a great serve and stand there admiring my serve, instead of getting in to the rest of the game. i have to constantly remind myself to focus on what i am doing, whether it be sports, working or driving (scary i know). 

today i look at my horoscope, and it tells me "Taurus: In life as in sports, you have to live in the moment and be paying attention."  ok, fine! i get it! kickboxing is my practice in focus. that is what i love most about it. the second you lose your focus, you have to restart and get right back in the zone. but it's such a great feeling when you are able to maintain your rhythm and get it right.

so big E (also a Taurus) got my lack of focus. awesome. his class just so happens to be called "hockey in focus".  maybe this class will help him learn to pay more attention to what he is doing. he is only 5, after all. just hope he figures it out before he's 35. i'm still a work in progress.

06 January 2012

january check-in

ok, christmas/new years/luke's birthday were harder to get through than i thought they'd be without eating my weight in kringle.  but all that is behind us know (skipping right past the obvious "behind" puns).

so fresh year, fresh start.  that is the good thing about new years, new weeks, new days. always a fresh start the next morning.

i've been working out 3-4 times per week.  that's no problem - i actually enjoy it. it's the food. i enjoy it just as much. or maybe it's more just lack of self control.  i'll be doing good all day and then a coworker hands me three caramel-filled ice cream cones and before i know it there's only one cone left and i'm feeling a little jittery from all the sugar. did i want the cones? no, not at all. but there they were. just sitting there staring at me.  yep, no control whatsoever.

so that's what i will work on this week.  self control and eating with awareness and intention.

  starting weight (dec 15): 196
  current weight: 194
  goal weight: 160
  pounds lost: 2
  pounds to go: 34

01 January 2012

2011 reflections

while it was a rough year for a lot of people, 2011 treated our family pretty darn well.

i started typing all the great things about 2011, but i fear that it may throw the universe off balance and 2012 may come to bite us in the backside. so i just bow my head and say thanks for all the wonderful blessings my family received this year.

happy new year all. happy new blessings.