Mish Mash

Oh man...I hate that such a negative post has been looming on my blog over almost 2 months!  Time to change that and include a quick update on what's going on in our lives.  Such a busy time for this little family!

Ethan
Man, this kid is growing so fast.  He is at such an awesome age (16 months) and he really is so so smart.  He has TONS of words and new this week:  bubbles, outside, balloon, and yummy.  Our Parents as Teachers Educator came over and confirmed that Ethan is as much as a genius that we expected :)  (Don't all parents think their child is the smartest and cutest on the planet?!)  Life with him is just so amazing right now.  I'm not coming down from this "Mommy High" anytime soon!  I just gobble up every minute with him that I can and love every second.


Mike
Oh, my poor husband.  He has been working so sooooo sooo hard lately.  He has been burning the candle from both ends for awhile now and today marks the start of his crazy wedding season.  Pretty much from now to November, he will be shooting weddings and sessions every day of every weekend.  He has been working all day at his full time job, then he comes home to work on getting our house ready to go on the market, and then stays up late with those projects or works on his photography.  He has done such INCREDIBLE work around the house by fixing every little issue that has come up, painting, landscaping, and our house looks great!  I don't know how he balances all of his work, our house, and being such an awesome daddy and husband. 


The House
Our house will officially be on the market next Sunday and we will have our first open house.  I can't believe this is happening.  The POD will be picked up on Tuesday, the photographer will come on Wednesday, we will have a garage sale on Saturday, and then open house on Sunday.  Pretty incredible!  As I have mentioned before, leaving our "small town" Kirkwood will be very hard.  But we are excited about a couple of bigger homes that we have found that are closer to our parents and my work.  We know it will be a sad transition but one that is necessary for our family.  (The picture below was on our first day in our home in 2008.)


Running
Ohhhh, running.  Training for the half marathon was going really well.  UNTIL a few weeks ago.  After I ran, I had a lot of aching pain in my right knee.  I gave it a rest and tried again the next week.  Same thing and I was barely able to walk for 24 hours.  I iced it and took ibuprofen and it the pain went away quickly.  I decided to give it one last shot today.  My sister and I were attempting 7 miles in Forest Park (and in the back of my head, I knew my knee wasn't going to make it.)  It started aching at 1.7 miles but I wanted to try to get a bit further.  I had to stop at about 3.2 miles because of shooting pain.  I am so disappointed.  I've never had knee pain and I've been running off and on for about 4 years.  I'm going to my chiropractor on Monday (he also specializes in sports medicine) to see if this is the end of running for me.  I have a feeling that it is.  I cried when I had to stop and my sister had to finish the run without me.  I could have done it.  The rest of my body and my mind could have done it.  Why why why is my knee failing me now :( 
*I've decided to describe the pain since I have a lot of runners that read and comment!  Help me out, ladies.  The pain starts a couple of miles in.  It is the outside of my right kneecap.  It generally aches and today was the first day with shooting pain.  When I get home and rest, it starts to feel stiff and it very painful to bend it.  It is especially painful to go downstairs, but it is ok to go up.  I can bend my knee when pulling it forward (like at a 90 degree angle) but it really hurts when I bend it backwards (like to kick my tush).  The pain lasts about 24-48 hours and then completely vanishes until my next run.

Weight Loss
I think I have gotten the most comments when I post about weigh loss and my body image issues.  I started trying to lose the baby weight when Ethan was about 8 months old.  (I realized the 9 months on, 9 months off thing was just around the corner.)  I started in February and by March, I was sad and frustrated.  But I didn't give up.  This summer, I took a stroller fit class and started training for this 1/2 marathon.  I got on the scale last weekend and it showed that I have lost 15 pounds since I started trying in February!  It's awesome to FINALLY (after over a year) fit back into my prebaby clothes and feel OK about my appearance.  I like having my confidence back and it feels great to have people tell you that you look good.  I am my sister's Maid of Honor (I hope she doesn't call me the Matron of Honor...that sounds old) in June and I'd love to lose 10 more pounds by then. 

Baby Fever
Of course, I have waves of it but it's pretty much been at bay for a couple of months.  I am just totally enjoying Ethan and everything life is offering us right now so we aren't there yet.  We want to move and get into the next year before we start entertaining the idea of #2.  Also, Ethan is just so perfect and it scares me to think about what #2 could bring...don't they say if you have a great first kiddo that your second will surely be a terror?  Haha :)  (Or vice vera, of course!)

Congrats if you made it to the end.  That is what has been going on in our lives and the reason that I haven't been able to blog as often as I'd like.  Summer and Fall in St. Louis are my favorite seasons with so much to do.  Last night, we did the Balloon Glow in Forest Park and today enjoyed the Green Tree Festival's parade and will go the craft fair after naptime.  Love this time of the year and this weather!   Hope you are enjoying it too!  Happy Weekend!  XOXO

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Running Gear and Essentials?

Now that I'm starting to train for the half marathon, I would like your advice.  What do you make sure to have with you before you pound the pavement?  I would love personal recommendations on kinds of ear buds (over the ear or not, what brand) and anything else you think I need.  (So far, I have great shoes and a water bottle.)

THANKS!

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Goodbye July, Goodbye Summer

I feel like I just wrote this post and I was in the middle of summer break.  But in one week from today, I will be officially back to work.  This summer blew by so fast and I can honestly say, that it was the best summer I've ever had.  Spending time with my son has been absolutely incredible and I going back to work is going to be extremely hard.  Last year, I was ready to go back to work and get back to my "normal" life.  But now, I'm not so sure that working is going to feel "normal" for me anymore.  I've already cried a couple of times about thinking about Ethan at the babysitter's.  Here's to hoping the anticipation of going back to work is worse than the real thing.
We have totally been digging the splash pads this summer.  Ethan wasn't so sure about them the first couple of times but now he loves running through the fountains.  (St. Louis readers, we like the ones at Tillis Park and Millenium Park.)  Ethan was so funny yesterday running around the house with his bath towel on his head.  SUPER-ETHAN!  When I took out the Bumbo to lend to a friend, Ethan wanted to try it out.  Hilarious watching him squeeze himself in and out :)

This morning, when I pulled in from work, a POD was in our driveway.  In order to list our house, we have a lot of cleaning to do.  Our basement is FULL of "stuff".  Boxes of toys and clothes, the Christmas tree, wrapping paper, craft items, bedding and pillows, wedding presents, well...anything you can imagine.  It's insane.  Our agent says that everything needs to disappear so into the POD it will go.  DID I MENTION THAT WE ARE GOING TO MOVE?!?

We aren't moving yet.  We are just starting to look and are hoping to list our house after Labor Day.  One more month to do a lot of little fix-up projects around the house and pack up this POD.  We are definitely staying in St. Louis and we will be moving closer to our parents and my work.  The driving back and forth is crazy for me and Ethan and I spend so much time in the car.  We LOVE LOVE LOVE living in the area we are currently in but unfortunately, won't be able to afford a house the size that we want. 

Finally (to end this totally random post), today was the first day of half marathon training.  It is my 3rd attempt at training and 3rd time's the charm, right?!  I've been running on and off for about 3 years now and I know there is nothing that can get in my way of running this thing in October.  My sister and I are going to train and race together and I'm excited to do this with her.  So here we go!

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1/2 Marathon- Take Two

Before I got pregnant, we were training for the Lewis and Clark half-marathon. (We actually ran 8 miles the day before I get my BFP.) Now, over 1 year later (15 months to be exact), I'm going to try to jump back into running and complete a 1/2 marathon in 4 months. Is this even possible? Am I crazy to even attempt this?

I need to do something that kick-start my year. I need to do something to get my body back. I need to do something where I can feel constant accomplishment and growth. It's going to be hard and it's going to hurt. But I'm going to do it. (And I'm not going to lie...I'm scared!)

I saw these on Pinterest and they are so, so true!
Last time, I used Hal Higdon's training plan and I think I'm going to do it again. If anyone knows of a better plan for a beginning runner, let me know. I'm going to use January to do a fast-forward version of Couch to 5k so I can get up to the 3 mile starting point. Then February-April will be focused on adding mileage. Have I mentioned that I'm scared?

Here goes nothing!

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