Spin class while pregnant - good idea????

So I am now 13 weeks pregnant with #2.  I went for the NT test today and got to see the little bean on ultrasound.  He/she was being a little stubborn but so cute.  The tech was trying to get a good profile to look at the fluid behind the neck but little one was jumping from facing us and waving to a total 180 with it's little butt side pointing at us.  After a half hour we got one second of the perfect position and the ultrasound lady captured it perfectly.  Everything looked good.  They took some blood from me and we will have the results in 7-10 days.

Exercise-wise I've been hitting spin class at the gym with the hubby almost twice a week.  I'm sure some people who have been to spin are probably freaking out right now.  Spin is HARD they will say and I agree it isn't easy but I'm not quite following the instructors direction (I tend to back off a few gears and RPM's).  I sweat a bit but my heart rate never gets up there very high.  Not even close to what it does when I run.  I think I average about 125 BPM so I think I am ok.  I'm just wondering how many dirty looks I will get walking in visibly pregnant.  Or maybe by then I won't dare to enter.  We shall see. 

Since today is the last day of the month it is now time to post my time and mileage for Feb:


Bike: 9h 52m - 166.29 Mi

Run: 9h 03m 30s - 51.44 Mi

Strength: 1h 05m

Elliptical Training: 2h 35m

Walking: 3h 02m

I'm feeling good.  The only problem I've had has to do with needing to pee every 5 seconds while running and the simple truth that sometimes I don't make it to the bathroom before some leaks out.  Disgusting I know but I want to hear from a pregnant woman who has never wet her pants! 
 
Mom update:  She started radiation today!  I know it makes her nervous.  I pray every night for God to bless her and the doctors and nurses and let him know that she is in his hands.  That's all we can really do but I really hope that radiation isn't too hard on her and she can relax soon and not feel so anxious.
 
Sam update:  Weekends are tough.  I think it is because she is sooooo stimulated at day care with other kids and all that she gets bored with just Travis and I.  Nap time is ridiculous.  It has come to me having to rock her and then hold her while she sleeps.  She won't fall asleep for Travis any more.  Yesterday he was trying to get her to sleep and she wouldn't go so we decided to put her in her crib and see if she would calm herself down and take a nap.  About 2 minutes later we heard a thud and then she came running into the living room.  No cries, no whimpers, nothing but somehow she climbed out of the crib and must have landed on her feet and took off.  Needless to say after we made sure she was ok I had to rock and hold her while she slept.  I vow baby #2 will be different.  Baby #2 will nap in the crib.  Yeah - we'll see how that works out.
 

Oh, one other thing.  I made a monkey cake for my niece's birthday.  This is my first attempt at decorating a cake.  It turned out ok.  Still not sure how it tastes.  The littlest niece got sick so we had to postpone the party to next weekend.  Hopefully it keeps in the freezer.

I Bought Two New Books Today - I never buy books!

I went to Barnes & Noble this afternoon with my sister and actually bought two books - wait, I bought three books!  I've been a library goer and anti book buying for years now so this really is monumental day for me.  I bought Jillian Michaels - Master Your Metabolism, David Servan-Schreiber - AntiCancer a New Way of Life and I bought "Just Like Daddy" - a kid's book about a border collie and his puppy.  I bought the last one for my hubby.  Our soon to be 14 year old dog is a border collie and we love her so much!  I had never seen a kid book with a border collie in it so I had to buy it!

Regarding the other books, I'm trying to figure out why in the world so many people are getting cancer.  I also wanted something I could give my mom that would help her try and take some control over her body in this fight she is in with this ugly disease.  I read bits and pieces of AntiCancer on Amazon and decided it was worth shelling out some bucks to purchase it.  I'll let you know what I think as I make my way through it.  As for the Jillian Michaels book, it just intrigues me and I was in the buying mood so it now lives at my house.

Mom had a CBC done on Friday as she was on the schedule to return to work on Monday.  Needless to say she won't be performing her nursing job on Monday as her WBC count was low.  I also came down with a sore throat on Thursday and Sam had a bit of a snotty nose.  We were planning on going over to see her but I called and talked to her nurse and she advised we postpone our visit.  I'm so scared I'm going to make her sick.  Will I ever get over that?  We'll see if she is good to go for her next round of chemo on Thursday.

Training for the Goofy is coming along.  Saturday was a 12 miler which I ended up running on the treadmill at the Y.  ICK!  It was raining and about 52 degrees out.  Travis ran the whole thing outside but I'm not that tough.  I think we do 14 next Saturday.  I got some new shoes about a week ago and I can really tell the difference.  My legs feel so much better now. 

Quick Sam update, she really started walking this week and she is everywhere.  It is amazing how quickly they go from just a few steps to full speed non stop all throughout the house!  I like that I don't have to carry her everywhere and she seems to have stopped shoveling every little speck of dirt she sees on the floor into her mouth so that is nice as well.  She has started throwing a little temper tantrum or two though.  She will just lay down on the floor and kick her legs.  I try not to laugh but it is rather funny to watch.

I have a Habitat for Humanity build tomorrow so I get one more day of not doing my day job - gotta love that!  I think I'll be doing some interior painting which should be fun.

Mom's Boyfriend Visits the Hospital

River, Sam & Mom

Mom is still in the hospital recovering from an infection in her left breast. She's been there since Tuesday evening and as long as things go well, she should be headed home tomorrow.

When talking to my sister on Friday morning, she mentioned how drab mom's room was. There were no flowers (it drives mom crazy that people spend money on flowers) and it seemed do dull. I started wracking my brain, what could add a little color to the room and make mom smile whenever she looked at it. What does she like???? Then Johnny Depp popped into my head. I thought about a Pirates of the Caribbean poster. He is one of her favorites - particularly in that movie. We could have a movie night at the hospital on Friday night. Then I thought some more, a poster just wouldn't cut it....where could I find a life size cardboard cut out of Captain Jack Sparrow in an hour and a half. Thank you to "The Theatrical Shop" in town. I called, they had it and I immediately left work. It was approx 6 foot tall and folded over once. It barely fit in the trunk.

Assembly Time

When we got to the hospital, my sister and her family met us in the parking garage. We carried Jack to the family room on the 4th floor where we assembled him. Then we headed to mom's room. Travis hung back with Captain Jack. I had the theme from Pirates ready to play on my cell. Sam and I walked into the room and gave mom a hug and a kiss and made a little small talk. She then asked where Travis was. We told her he had stopped off at the bathroom. I headed out into the hall to "let him know what room we where in". I told him we were ready & to give me 30 seconds to get the song rolling and my camera ready.

I started the song and got out the camera and mom just looked at me funny. Then Travis made his entrance with Captain Jack leading the way. Here are some pictures of mom's reaction.

With all of the stuff we have had going on, I've still managed to squeeze in workouts but I'm not following my training plan. We'll see how much I suffer for this next weekend.

Sam Update: She fed herself with a spoon on Thursday night. She still isn't walking but she also doesn't want to crawl much anymore. She likes to grunt until you get up and walk with her holding onto your hands. It is fun but tiring!

We also picked mom some wild flowers on our run this morning. I'm sure some of them are actually weeds but oh well they looked pretty.

Sam's Spots, First Birthday, Vacation & It is Tri Time

This post is really long because we have been really busy since my last post. I'll work this through in chrono order.....

First, on Saturday, 6/12 we were supposed to have Sam's first birthday party with my side of the family in conjunction with my niece's 2nd birthday. We were going to go out of town and go to the zoo. Turned out the weather was horrible, half of the family couldn't make it and we cancelled our reservations. My sister and her family came to our house. My dad picked up the cakes my aunt had made and we had the party at our house. Then we went to the zoo. The party was great - Sam got great gifts and the cake was awesome!

On Friday, 6/18 daycare called me at work at 8:10 saying Sam had spots all over her body and I needed to pick her up. We had noticed a slight red spot on her cheek that morning but nothing alarming. I made a doctor appointment for 9:10am and went to pick her up. Her normal ped was on vacation so we saw a different doctor and one that I don't care much for. He said she had hives and must have either been exposed to something she is allergic to (either food, detergent, etc., etc or it could be caused by a virus of some sort. She did have a runny nose and kind of a barky cough since Wednesday night. She had no fever and seemed happy and he said her ears looked good - that was odd - her ears have never looked good. He said she wasn't contagious and she could go back to day care so I took her back. That night Travis left to go to his parent's house (4 hours away) and my mom came over to stay with Sam and I for the weekend. Sam was also scheduled to get tubes in her ears on Monday (6/21).

Saturday morning Sam still had spots and had a bit more on her cheeks. As the day went on they were spreading. The doctor had said they may cover most of her body before they went away and she was proving him to be right. I was still scratching my head wondering what could be causing this. Finally, I decided to strip her down and let her run around in her diaper to see if maybe the laundry detergent had a role to play. I hadn't changed the brand but you never know - maybe they tweaked the formula. The only other thing I could think of is that she had some pretty good cradle cap and on Thursday night I rubbed a generous amount of baby oil on her head and then scrubbed off the flakes when we gave her a bath. Maybe sitting in that caused some sort of allergic reaction. She also had an egg on Thursday, but she had eaten an egg before and didn't have any issues. Then I made the mistake of googling "allergy to baby oil" and read some really horrific stories about children ingesting baby oil and dying a slow death by suffocating. Don't google it.....it almost made me sick to my stomach. Then I started wondering if the same could be happening to her. Her cough was getting a little worse....why did I put that much oil on her head.....why did I let her sit in the bathtub in the water I used to wash it off....could it be....I would never forgive myself. It is amazing how far you let your thinking take you when you don't know what is going on.

Saturday around 6:30pm I put her in her highchair for dinner. She was eating fine, as always and humming the whole time (she is a noisy eater but it is sooooo cute). Then I looked at her fingers and they looked blue. Then I looked at her toes and they looked blue. She wasn't having any trouble breathing but why was she turning blue. I asked my mom, who is an LPN, what she thought. She thought they were blue. That was it we were going to the emergency room. I wasn't a total wreck but I wasn't calm either. On the way to the hospital I called the ask a nurse line to get directions to the children's hospital. The nurse I talked to convinced me to pull over and do an assessment before taking her to the ER. She walked me through a bunch of things and said that her hands and toes being blue was probably related to her being cold - could be by the time we had gotten her into her car seat they were normal looking again. We had the AC in the house set at 74 degrees. The nurse said as long as her mouth and lip area were not turning blue she was getting enough oxygen. She also walked me through the hives and said they sounded normal. I could give her Benedryl (which was something the Dr. had told me on Friday and I had been doing). She wanted me to skip the ER but to take her to a walk in clinic. It was 7:40 and the clinic closed at 8pm. We needed to be there in 10 minutes to be seen. She would call and tell them we were coming. We got there about ten minutes before 8pm and we sat for 45 minutes to see the doctor. In the last 5 minutes we were sitting in the waiting room her right foot started swelling. It was almost twice the normal size, was red and hot. Now I started to get really concerned. It was bothering her too. She didn't want you to touch it and she was getting fussy. What in the world was wrong with my baby!

The doctor came in and took one look at her foot and her hives and said "You are going downtown". He listened to her lungs and said they sounded fine but that the hives were not your normal hives and the foot swelling was a concern. She also had developed a low grade fever. He wanted her to be seen by a pediatric doctor right away. He said he would call and tell them we were coming then he walked us to the front desk. Along the way, he asked his nurse to call the hospital and tell them we were on our way. He then told the front desk lady he would not charge us for the visit - it should be documented as triage. Now I was more scared.

I called Travis even though mom thought I should wait. No one answered the phone. He didn't answer his cell. Now I was getting upset. I left a message on his parents home phone and he called me back about 10 minutes later. He would be headed home right away. When we got to the hospital they said they had heard we were coming. Everyone who looked at her foot cringed. We saw the triage nurse right away and then she sent us to the waiting room. The ER wasn't too busy but we weren't the only ones waiting. Less than 5 minutes later they were taking us to a room. Other people were still waiting, what was going on????? All of my fears were eased about 30 seconds after the doctor walked in the room. She said Sam had "hives on steroids" and that we should continue to give her Benedryl & Motrin. When we asked about the foot swelling she sensed our concern and went to get the attending physician. Oh and she had a really bad ear infection. Remember what I said about not liking the doctor she saw on Friday....how is it that he missed that.

The attending physician came in and put us at ease immediately. She said Sam had Erythema Multiforme which is basically hives on steroids. The lesions develop into what looks like a target and the inside starts out flesh colored then often turns purple/blue like a bruise. She said the foot swelling is normal with this and that her hands may swell as well. She said her son had the same thing about 5 years ago when he was 2 years old. She brought in a picture and sure enough he looked exactly like Sam. She said that as long as she didn't act sick she was fine and it would go away gradually. It may take 6 weeks for it to be totally gone. What a big sigh of relief I breathed then. Thank you God! And mom was right I probably should have waited to call Travis.

The lesions got worse and on Sunday night she looked bruised all over but by Monday morning she looked a log better. She got the ear tubes put in on Monday morning and did really well. The doctors there were great. She was quite cranky in the recovery room but by noon she was pretty much normal just a little tired. Fluid/pus drained from her ears for a little over a week and it was pretty disgusting but now they look great and she is talking like crazy. It has been so funny to watch her. It seems like she can hear sounds for the first time. She has been looking around like crazy - the other day we were walking through the store and she kept looking up in the air to see where the music over the speakers was coming from.

Then we went on vacation. It started with a few days at Travis' parents house and a small birthday party for Sam. Then we went to Colorado with Travis' sister, her hubby and their 9 month old. We left for CO at 4am in order to let the monkeys sleep for most of the 8 hour drive. They did great. While in CO we spent 2 days in Colorado Springs. We hiked a few trails. The first day was good but the second day not so much. Sam had a minor melt down about half way into a 7 mile hike and we had to take her out of the pack and put her in the Baby Bjorn. She calmed down and we were able to finish the hike. We went swimming every day (Sam loves swimming) and the only minor problem we had was that Sam decided not to sleep through the night. She was in a crib provided by the hotel and woke up both nights and would not calm down until she got into bed with us. Of course then I couldn't sleep because she had never ever slept with us. It was fine but I was still nervous the whole time.

We spent Tuesday night with Travis' sister and her family in Aurora.

We spent Wednesday - Friday in Estes Park. That place was awesome. We hiked some really cool trails, found a really cool little shop to eat at and in the end wished we would have spent the entire week there. Next year I think we will....there are so many more trails we could have explored.

On Saturday morning we headed home. We left Denver at 7am mountain time and rolled into the drive way at home around 9pm CST. It was a long day. Sam did great until about 2 hours from home when she started crying almost non stop. Finally, we rearranged all of the stuff and I sat in the back seat with her. A few minutes later after I couldn't really get her to calm down I tried to shift her around a bit because she didn't look very comfortable and saw stuff leak out of her diaper. Wow, what a mess. No wonder she wasn't a happy camper. We pulled over, pulled her out and changed her, removed her soiled pants and the top padding of the car seat - ick! The last hour and a half of the ride home was good though.

Regarding Sam turning one.....we can't believe it! She is such a little miracle. I think I have posted on our troubles getting pregnant, in essence giving up and deciding to adopt only to be blessed with this beautiful baby girl of our own. We love her so much as I know most parents do but it is really beyond words. Sam, if you read this someday, you really are the apple of our eyes and you are so loved. I hope you grow up always knowing this and that you can share this amazing experience with your own children some day. We look forward to spending the rest of our lives with you!

As for training, I didn't do any formal tri training for a week solid but spent a lot of time hiking & in the pool with Sam. I need to hit it pretty hard this week and my first tri of the season is on Sunday. I'll post more hopefully later this week. Until then, happy training & parenting.

The 20K That Wasn't

First off - we did run a 5K on 5/23. I pushed Sam and we got 1st place for my age & 7th in my age group and we ran slow. I guess this was a race for recreational run/walkers or something. Still, it is the first race we have ever placed in as a team. Yeah Baby!

Travis & Tracy did the 1/2 marathon and did great - it was so hot!

I was supposed to run a 20K on Saturday morning but a # of events took place that meant it wasn't to be. First my head started feeling all stuffed up Thursday night. Since I am still nursing I didn't take any meds and slept all of 4 hours. Friday I didn't feel too bad during the day but started feeling worse that night. I broke down and took a Claritin. Claritin doesn't do squat for my stuffiness but it is safe to take while breastfeeding.

Once again I couldn't sleep. Stuffed up like crazy and it hurt to swallow. At around 2:30am Sam's Angel Monitor alarm went off. We had family staying at the house so our bedroom door was shut - usually it is wide open. Anyway, when the alarm went off I jumped out of bed and bolted to Sam's room. I forgot about the door and ran right into it. I'm sure it was comical - I felt like an idiot and I bent my big toenail backwards and took a couple chunks of skin off of my foot. I also bruised my knee and scared the crap out of our houseguests.

I got out of bed (I was going to say that I woke up - but that would have required me to sleep) at 4:30 am and felt worse but thought it might get better after I got up and around. I put on my running gear & turned on the TV. It was raining out and more rain was headed our way. Then I took my temp - 99.2. Not much of a temp but about 2 degrees above my norm. I rode downtown with the hubby and my brother-in-law (who was also running the race) not sure if I would get out of the car or not. I chose not to. I was bummed but it was probably for the best. I've now been training since January for a half marathon which I have not run and probably won't until fall now.

My brother-in-law ran well, I still went downtown and hung out with the family. I took some Motrin and stated feeling better almost right away. I should have done that on Friday. Saturday afternoon I did go to the pool with my sister-in-law who says she wants to do a tri. Then before bed I took some Benadryl. Not the best thing if you are breastfeeding but I slept.

This morning, Travis competed in his first sprint tri of the season. He did great. My brother-in-law who ran the 20K on Saturday also signed up and did his first ever tri with absolutely no tri training. The swim was tough but he finished. Travis did great and the weather was awesome. Then this afternoon I did a 16 mile bike followed by a 1.75 mile run. I forgot how funky the legs feel after riding hard on the bike.

Now it is on to tri training. My first tri of the season will be July 11th. I'm excited! Watching Travis' race yesterday got my blood flowing faster. Here is the training schedule for this week.

6/7 - Off

6/8 - Swim: WU - 250, Drills - 6x25, Intervals 10x100, Kick Set - 4x25, CD - 200 (1,700)

6/9 - Cycle: Tempo - 24 minutes at threshold intensity, ride for a total of 1 hour & 5 minutes.

6/10 - Run: Tempo run - 18 minutes at threshold intensity, run for a total of 38 minutes

6/11 - Swim: WU - 250, Drills - 6x25, Intervals 7x75 with 45 sec rest, Kick Set - 6x25, CD - 250

6/12 - Cycle: Foundation Ride - 1hr 15min steady ride at moderate intensity.

6/13 - Run: Foundation Run - 45 minutes at moderate intensity.

Sam Update: She crawled on all fours for the first time yesterday afternoon. She is also learning to purse her lips when she gives kisses and she loves giving kisses. She also has been picking things up and then trying to give whatever it is to you. Travis also swears she told the day care ladies "bye-bye" today. We haven't been able to get her to repeat it though. She gets tubes in her ears on the 21st. We went to the ENT last week and he said they are still full of fluid - I think they have been full of fluid since her first well baby appointment at 2 months old. I really can't believe she will be one at the end of the month. We love watching her learn new things and explore the world and it is amazing how fast time flies.

My Baby Girl Kissed a Boy Today

Sam is 9 months old and today she kissed her first boy & he kissed her back! We're in trouble!

We had been teaching her to give her little stuffed monkey kisses but until today she wouldn't give a person a kiss. So she kisses a little boy at daycare today but Travis & I can't get her to give us any sort of kisses at all. What gives!

Tomorrow is her nine month appointment. Time flies. I was walking around today at lunch noticing all ofthe pregnant women and reflecting on what I was going through a year ago at this time. I really don't miss being pregnant - those last few weeks were torture!

Yesterday, I hit the pool for the first time in months. I only did about 600 meters and my arms, shoulders, & back are aching a bit today. We still haven't signed up for any races. We need to get on it before they are full.

My run training for the 20K in June is in full force. Today was killer - 9.5 miles with 5 mile repeats with 800's between repeats. Friday night we are doing an 11 mile long run while a sitter comes over to take care of Sam. Date night is usually a workout - we are so lame!

Time to hit the sack - take care all!

Sam's First Swim

On Saturday morning we headed to my sister's for baptism of our new niece. She was born on Tuesday of last week, weighing in at 9lbs. 13oz and 21 1/4 inches long. In pictures she looked huge. In person she looked small - the way all newborn babies do. She is a cutie.

Saturday night was also Sam's first hotel stay and her first ever swim. Travis, Uncle Marty, Aunt Julee, Logan & River all got in the pool and I documented Sam's first pool experience. She loved it! No nervousness at all! Travis put her on her tummy and she started kicking and moving her arms. It was so awesome! She also did great sleeping in an unfamiliar place.

Yesterday Travis texted me and said, "Thinking of Sam swimming makes me smile". I love my hubby and he is a great dad.

Training for the half marathon on 4/24 continues according to the plan I documented a while back. So far so good. Saturday was 9 miles and it went well. Today was 8 miles with 4x1600 at 8:56 pace (remember all you fast people reading this blog....I am slow!). It was tough but not too bad. Am I starting to get my endurance back.......hmmmm..........we shall see.

Now on to tri training. We still haven't signed up for any races and I haven't been to the pool in months and months and months. Have I mentioned that I don't really mind swimming but going to the pool is a huge pain in the butt. I'm not even going to set a goal date for getting started again.

Well, I better feed my baby and get her to bed. Take care everyone!

Week end Review & My baby girl has teeth!

1/3 - 1/9 Training: Not too bad. The 5 mile run on Wed was the longest I had done in some time and went better than I thought it would. The 6 miler on Saturday was done in the basement at my sisters house on her treadmill. It went pretty well. My foot started hurting pretty badly about 4 miles into it but I got off & walked around for a bit and it felt better. I also spent quite a bit of time on the bike which was great. I didn't get around to doing much strength training and to be honest that was ok with me.



Bike 34.31 Miles in 2h 00m
Run: 13.00 Miles in 2h 17m
Strength: 05m


Sam Update: She has teeth! It is official, her first tooth broke through the gummy confines and is jutting out of her bottom gum! We noticed it on Friday evening. Is it weird that I feel sad that my baby has her first tooth? She is growing up so fast! Last night we tried to feed her some squash. It didn't go well. I think we have a picky eater on our hands. So far she likes oatmeal baby cereal and sweet potatoes. We have to find something else she will eat. I think we might try some peaches or bananas tonight.

It's been a while

It's been a while since I posted last. I really hope I get time to do this more. Work has been crazy busy. For three weeks solid I have been working from 7am - 5 or 6pm and then ususally an hour or two at home. I'm getting 100+ emails a day. What in the world am I supposed to do with 100+ emails! I seriously hate email and I seriously hate meetings. The whole time I am in a meeting I'm thinking about how I'm going to respond to the 15-20 emails I received while I was away from my desk. I need to do a little Bad Boys "woo-saaaa, woo-saaa" - there now I feel better!

Sam update - she is 4 months old and she is so much fun. She is smiling back at us and developing more of a personality every day. She rolled over stomach to back for the first time on the day she turned 4 months old. She did it 3 times that day but we haven't seen her do it again since. The past week or so she has been a bit on the grumpy side. I'm not convinced she is totally over the ear infection she came down with a few weeks ago. For some reason she has decided she doesn't need to nap during the day. Seriously, she has been taking 3-4 fifteen minute naps a day over the past week. They have even mentioned she has been a little grumpy at day care. I'll see how she does tomorrow and if little miss grumpy pants doesn't change her tune I'll try to get her in to have her ears checked out again.

Training update - I had a pretty good cold for a week solid so I took it pretty easy last week and the end of the week prior to that. We signed up for our weekend before Thanksgiving cross country run. 7 miles through the woods and creeks in the freezing cold - doesn't that sound like fun! I also need to get my hind end to the pool sometime in the not too distant future. I haven't swam since our last tri at the end of August! Here are my weekly stats for the past couple of weeks:

10/11 to 10/17

Bike Distance: 12.62 Mi
Bike Time: 45m
Run Distance: 18.82 Mi
Run Time: 3h 13m 34s

10/18 to 10/24

Bike Distance: 12.04 Mi
Bike Time: 45m
Run Distance: 4.95 Mi
Run Time: 52m 05s
Strenght Time: 12m

10/25 to 10/31

Bike Distance: 20.09 Mi
Bike Time: 1h 12m
Run Distance: 18.20 Mi
Run Time: 3h 13m 43s

Where does the day go!!!

Sam Update: She is the coolest thing ever! Last night she giggled for real for the first time. It was this high pitched squeal of delight and we were gaga over it. Yes, this little girl has her mommy & daddy thoroughly wrapped around her little finger! She has also started really examining her hands. It is pretty cool, she brings them together & stares at them while moving them around.

The picture below is of Sam at Krissy's house this weekend. She couldn't go into the hospital with us to see baby Abe and that made her sad

Misc Stuff:

Wow, there aren't enough hours in the day. I've been running full speed ahead since Sam arrived! Being back at work is good but things are crazy busy there & it is wearing me out a bit.

We do have some exciting news though...Travis' sister had a baby boy Saturday. We went to the hospital to see him and he seemed sooooooo tiny. He was 6lbs. 8oz which is bigger than Sam was but it doesn't seem like she was ever that small. Here is a pic of baby Abe.

Training: I was sick on Thursday evening and still wasn't feeling too hot on Friday so I laid off training altogether on those two days. Here is a summary of my week:

Bike Distance: 12.50 Mi
Bike Time: 45m
Run Distance: 12.10 Mi
Run Time: 2h 01m

I'm hoping for a better week this week.

Last Week's Workouts & Sam's First Cold

Here is the workout load for last week. I took it pretty easy. Running has felt really hard. I will be starting a 10K training plan for a cross country run we do every year the Saturday before Thanksgiving though. Hopefully the motivation of training for an event will kick me in the butt a bit. I also want to make a serious effort to do pilates 2 days a week.

Total workout time: 5:35:21
Bike(Time)1:45:00
Bike(Distance)29.51 mi
Run(Time)1:47:32
Run(Distance)10.10 mi
Hiking (Time)2:02:50
Hiking (Distance)4.50 mi

Sam update: She has her first cold. It was pretty bad Friday night. She sounded really stuffy but didn't have a fever. We were at Travis' sister's and almost nixed going to the Nebraska game on Saturday to come home and take her to the doctor. She did better the second half of the night sleeping and seemed pretty good on Saturday morning though. We went to the game, but left at halftime. She did good all day and only minorly congested. She woke up at 2:30am both nights wanting a little snack (sucked for 5 minutes only) and I figured the fluid was good for her so I didn't give her time to try and fall back to sleep before going to her. She is doing good today.


Here is beautiful Husker Family picture - thanks for taking this mom it looks great!
And some hiking pictures from this week:
I love this picture:

Baptism, etc.

So we had Samantha's baptism yesterday. Things went decently but not nearly as smoothly as we would have expected. The hubby and I have to accept the fact that we need to plan on things taking twice as long as we would expect and that they are twice the pain in the butt!

We had family in town beginning on Friday night. That evening we did a little grilling at our house and had a low key night.

Saturday morning we headed downtown to the Farmer's Market then we ate lunch at Hessen Haus (a German resturant/bar). They have a specialty called Das Boot (if you have seen the movie Beer Fest you know what I am talking about) and the family was ready to take the plunge. Here is a link to the rules: http://www.hessenhaus.com/haus_rules/haus_rules.php

Saturday night we went to a baseball game. It was a bit chilly but still a good time. I drank my first full beer since having Sam.

Sunday was baptism. Church was at 11am & it lasted until 12:30! Baptism was after the church service. There were 3 other children baptised at that time as well. Sam wore the gown that River wore and she looked adorable. She also did really good throughout the whole day. I fed her in the mother's room at 10:50am and she lasted until we got home at around 3:30 or so. She slept for most of the church service and baptism. After blessing her with water they annointed her with oil. While pastor was talking the oil started running down towards her right eye. Thank goodness it ran slowly enough that we didn't have to wipe it off while we were standing up in front of everyone.

Sam's sponsers were Uncle Tracy & Aunt Kristen as well as Uncle Marty & Aunt Julee. Here are some pics from baptism.

Sam Update: She has done really good sleeping for the past several days. Her routine right now is to eat at 9:45-10pm. She is usually put into her crib at 10:30 or so still awake but she falls asleep right away. Generally she sleeps until around 3-4am then eats for 20-25 minutes. After that she will sleep again until around 6:30-7am.

Today was entertaining. She was up at 6:45am and had a bottle. She was sitting on my lap while I ate some oatmeal and she pooped a few times. I didn't think much of it but when I got up to put my bowl in the dish washer and to then go change her I realized we had a big mess. Poop everywhere! It was bath time. I got her all cleaned up with wipes and went to grab the bath tub. She proceeded to then pee all over the changing pad. Pee up her backside and into her hair! She just looked at me and grinned. Sometimes I think she soils herself just so she can take a bath. She loves bath time. Then this afternoon she projectile spit up all over herself and I mean all over herself. Her pants were soaked, her onesie was soaked, her Bumbo seat was soiled. All in all, it was a great day.

On another Sam note she is starting to smile and coo more. I love the morning time right after she eats. She is in her best mood of the day and will lay on her back flailing her arms and legs cooing and smiling up a storm. The other thing she does that is way cute is sometimes when she is sleeping she will make a loud noise (kind of like the beginning part of a laugh) and then smile. I'm not sure what babies dream about but I want those dreams!

Sam's First Hiking Experience

We took Sam hiking today at The Ledges State Park. She did awesome. Daddy carried her in the Baby Bjorn and she slept pretty much the whole time.

We hiked for a little over an hour on the easy trails and then had a picnic lunch. It started raining about 5 mintues after we sat down to eat though and we had to finish lunch in the pickup!