Away In A Manger

 

Over a month since his birthday, but I wanted to share. I'm a little behind in downloading the photos off my camera.

Sweet Alice is now five (and a half) months old and I'm not wondering why time is flying by- it's hard to believe she's only been here for five months. Life without her seems so long ago.

She is such a happy baby, even through the cold she's been battling the past couple of weeks. The doctor said I can expect her to have a runny nose for the remainder of the winter. I was wondering how she's already been sick a couple times and then realized I can't keep her in the bubble I kept Jack in when he was a baby. She has a preschooler slobbering all over her every day.

Jack is loving helping in the kitchen, and although I'm not much of a baker (or cook for that matter), we've managed to make Christmas cookies a few times this holiday season. He's just as obsessed with making and decorating them as he is with eating them.

Once again we got a tree that was way too tall for our ceiling. Adam cut some trunk off the bottom, then had to screw some of the stump back on because the base was too short for our tree stand.

We tried to take a family picture, not sure what I was thinking as Alice is covered in drool and Jack has pizza sauce all over his face. Look closely and you'll see food stuck in my teeth.

Jack had his first Christmas concert! They sang "Away in a Manger" and it was pretty much the most adorable thing I've ever seen.

And there you go... some of what I've been up to this month. And if you're wondering... still not much running going on.

What Miles?

Last week I proclaimed that I had gotten into a great running schedule and was going to make December a high (for me) mileage month. Then last week came and went and I ran twice- five and three miles, and it's Wednesday and I haven't run since Saturday. What have I done? Eaten far too many Christmas cookies and had pizza for dinner more times than I'd like to admit. I can't even blame Christmas, because I just started shopping yesterday. I do know that running makes me happy, even though it's hard to get out the door sometimes. It needs to be a priority again.

12.14.12

I heard the news of what happened in Newtown, Connecticut before I left work on Friday. Crying on the way home, I couldn't get there fast enough to hold Jack and Alice. I couldn't hug them tight enough. The events that occurred are so gruesome that I (along with everyone else) can't seem to wrap my head around it. Working in a kindergarten classroom myself, I cannot comprehend the chaos that must have gone on and I can't help but wonder how I might act in that situation. I'm sure every person walking into a school tomorrow, whether they are a student or staff, are thinking the same thing.

I'm not one to talk politics, and I know I don't have the answer, but this is ridiculous. It's not just gun control that needs to be reformed, but something in our society needs to change. I read somewhere to just love, and that's what I'm going to do. Being scared and angry won't help or change anything.

It's amazing how a tragedy puts everything into perspective. As a mom this weekend, I was so aware. Aware of every little giggle made by Alice, and every little comment that came out of Jack's mouth. Everything else seemed so insignificant. Savoring every single moment, because, as cliche as it is, you never know when it will be your last.

December So Far

I've found a nice groove in runs this week, even though each one has been so different.

Sunday: 6 miles

It was a super hilly route and was beyond windy. There were times when I felt like I wasn't even moving. I think it took me 1:10 to finish.

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: 4 miles with Alice when I came home from work (Jack was taking a nap).

Wednesday: yoga! It felt so good.

Thursday: 6 miles on the treadmill

I felt like a rockstar! I was feeling the stress from a drama-filled week at work and it felt good to hammer out a run with music blasting in my headphones.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 4 easy miles

Sunday (today): 3.1

I normally don't count decimal points on my regular runs but I am today!

It's December?

As the days are getting shorter, it's getting harder and harder to fit runs in during daylight hours- and I will not run in the dark alone. I ended up running 71 miles in November- a number I'm pretty proud of. It takes a lot of work to get two kids bundled up and put in the jogger when I get home from work (especially when I'm trying to beat the sunset), but totally worth it. I started out December with three miles today and am ready to make this month an active one, including more yoga in my routine.

Downtown

One of my favorite things to do with Jack is to go to downtown Burlington. He loves running up and down Church Street and is always willing to go to Starbucks (and Lululemon) with me.

Birthday Boy

Yesterday, Jack celebrated his third birthday. We had a pretty awesome day! Big breakfast, My Little Cupcake, visiting Santa, making pizza at Gun(d) and Pa's.

It's a Good Day

Today's run was four miles (solo) with pretty low expectations. I went by feel and tried not to focus on pace too much, and to my surprise, saw some numbers I haven't seen in a while!

Mile 1: 10:41
Mile 2: 9:50
Mile 3: 9:35
Mile 4: 9:40

Boo

This is a little late, but I want to share anyway because I'm still pretty proud of myself.

The plan for Jack's Halloween costume was for him to dress up wearing his costume from last year- a train conductor- because it still fit, and he wouldn't care. The weekend before Halloween we were talking about a parade we were going to and he told me he wanted to dress up as a ghost. Well, my guilt kicked in and I decided he needed a ghost costume. I got the idea from Parenting magazine and made it out of a men's sweatshirt (K-Mart), tulle, felt, ribbon and fabric glue (Jo-Ann's).

When I was younger, I was always envious of the kids with moms who could whip up homemade costumes. I'm not super crafty and this was really easy, so I'm hoping this can become a tradition.

Thanksgiving Eve

Happy Thanksgiving! These pictures are from yesterday, but we had a pretty awesome day. It was one of those days where you don't do anything particularly special, but it still feels special.

With the day off, the morning was relaxing filled with coffee and the Today Show. We headed over to my mom's and I went for a four mile run (felt tough but awesome after too many rest days) and played. Later in the afternoon we put Jack and Alice into the jogger and walked up to my mom and Tom's house that's being built just a couple miles away.

After Alice went to "sleep," Jack and I hung out and watched a Christmas movie. It was pretty awesome.

Goodnight Moon

Dear Alice

Dear Alice,

I love you, but I also love sleep. Help me out a little bit.

Love,
Mama

.............

For about a month, we enjoyed full nights sleeps. After Alice's second month birthday, she eased into a nighttime routine that involved an early bedtime and early wake up. I'm fine with an early wakeup if it includes uninterrupted sleep. After about a month, bedtime became a struggle, as did sleeping stretches of more than a couple hours. Getting up four or five times during the night is now the norm, and it is really starting to take a toll on me. I'm pretty sure the lack of sleep is related to this stressed out, overwhelmed feeling I've had so often lately. She gets up, sometimes eats, then it's a struggle to get her to go back to sleep in the crib. Here's hoping things turn around soon. Tonight she went to bed at 7:00 and it's now 11:00 and already has gotten up twice. I'm not sure how much more I can take.

Mini Me

I think she looks just like me!

4 Months

Happy Four Months, Baby Girl!

Grammy and Poppy

Jack is lucky to have both sets of grandparents nearby. On Saturday he got to spend the whole day, just him, with Grammy and Poppy at their house. Looks like they had fun!

3, 5, 7

Thursday: 3 miles
Friday: 5 miles
Saturday: 7 miles

Lately I've been feeling pretty down. Running has always been my sanctuary and relief and it has been helping me get through these past couple weeks and I'm thankful for that. On Friday and Saturday's runs I ran with my mom on different-than-usual routes and both runs were great rechargers. I'm hoping I can keep up this consistency as the days continue to get darker and shorter.

October

October is long gone, but here's a little peek into what we were up to for the month. And by the way, ended the month with 55 running miles!

One of the few times we used the Bumbo seat, now put away until we order the recall kit. Alice can wiggle out of it in a way that Jack's chubby thighs never had a chance to do

Pumpkin Carving

Halloween tradition: Trick-or-Treating in Mamet and Papa's neighborhood

Connor showing Jack the ropes

Alyce and Alice

Pa and Jack checking out Saratoga

The Giant Pumpkin Regatta

Still Here

I'm still here! Back at work and things have been a little crazy around here. The good news is, I've started to settle into a running routine. Just in time for winter. Most of my recent runs (except for one solo three miler) have been with the jogger. As tough as it is, I know it will make me a stronger runner. I can now run for four miles without taking walk breaks, and had a great five mile run last weekend. It makes me so happy to be coming back as a runner. Next up: yoga.

Shelburne Farms

Shelburne Farms is my favorite place in Vermont. The farmbarn, the restaurant, the inn, the trails, the unbelievably beautiful grounds... it's all good. I enjoyed the last of my time off this week with a trip to the farm with Adam, Jack and Alice.

We had a couple of firsts, too. Alice's first tractor ride and Jack's first time milking a cow.

63 Days

You know, just pumping some iron

Two months old. I was about to say that I can't believe she's already two months old, but I can believe it. It's hard to remember life without her around now, it seems like she's always been here.

How big is Alice?
She had her two month appointment yesterday and she looks great. Immunizations were administered, and we survived, and like always, were worse on mom than the baby. She weighs 11 pounds 5 ounces and is 24 inches long. When Jack was two months old he weighed 16 pounds and was 26 inches long. Holy size difference.

What's she up to?
Smiling is her favorite. When she flashes me that gummy smile I just melt inside. She has the sweetest, calmest personality (just like her namesake). She's starting to become very interested in everything that's going on around her, and especially loves watching Jack.

Sleeping?
She's starting to fall into more of a routine when it comes to sleep, using having about three longer naps during the day (and maybe a cat nap or two thrown in) and then sleeping longer at night. She usually goes to bed around 9 and gets up to eat around 3 and then goes back to sleep for a couple hours. But every day is different, sometimes she's up during the night much earlier (midnight) and more often (three or four times).

How is Jack doing?
Big Brother Jack is so sweet with Alice. He'll usually go about his business, being a crazy busy almost-three-year-old and then will stop and try to play with Alice. He keeps saying that he wants to play with her and whenever we do something, he says "Alice, too." He gets a little overzealous sometimes and often has to reminded to be gentle. He wants to help so it works well giving him small tasks, like going to get her a diaper or putting dirty clothes in the hamper.

And he loves to read to her.

How am I doing?
I am doing well. After a rough couple of weeks I am feeling so much better. I was feeling pretty down this past month and wasn't feeling like myself at all. Every day I'm feeling more and more like myself and it feels great. I love being a mom, and I couldn't imagine things any other way, but I need to remember that I was me first before I was mom. I was feeling pretty overwhelmed but now I'm at the point where I think, I can do this! I feel like we're settling into more of a routine as a family of four which is making day-to-day life smoother and leaves more room for fun. I'm going back to work in two weeks so there are definitely changes on the horizon.