Lessons and Treasures

Little man is sleeping in his daddy's lap while Jeff plays video games. Watching them together is one of the greatest feelings in the world. There is something about how they look at each other and have an amazing connection that makes me smile.

This week's lesson...how to deal with Pee. Apparently little boys have this amazing ability to wet their entire clothing without even trying. Most the time this occurs at the most inopportune moment like 3 AM when all I want to do is sleep. So 4 diaper brands later and tricks with gravity I have a solution: Pants. Apparently the elastic band on pants holds the back of the diaper and keeps the Pee in! So far this has been our biggest challenge and whatever will work, I'm going with.

Our little guy is becoming less independent and likes to be held a lot. It is super fun to watch him with his funny faces. He smiles a lot, but for now I think it is just gas. Speaking of gas, he is a champ at loud farting. This is something that I think his dad is super proud of. We may have some crazy years ahead of us.

Good news is that I think we narrowed down day care. I have to make the check up visits but then I think we are golden. It is like 8 weeks away, but I will be sad and relieved when going back to work. Sad, because I don't get to spend as much time with my little man. Relieved, because I'm becoming incredibly stir crazy at the house and actually enjoy having some place to go every day.

Two more days and grandma comes to visit. I'm excited because Jeff and I get a night out, but I'm more excited to show off Reid to my mom. He's grown so much in almost 4 weeks and time is passing quickly. Off to explore more adventures. Until next time...

My First 3 Weeks as a Mom

Well its been awhile since I've posted, almost a year in fact. The past year I've been busy being pregant. Well my bundle of joy has arrived and life has been a rollercoaster over the last 3 weeks. Part of me has been going crazy being home so much and I never knew how hard it would be to simply get dressed everyday. The other part of me feels busy all the time. In fact it is a good day to be able to take a shower before noon.

I've been reading and researching a lot about kiddo. Too bad children don't come with instruction manuals. It is crazy the things you have to pay attention to, like how much flouride levels are in your water and what things are considered "normal" and what isn't. If I was a worry wort before, well....just wait.

Reid doesn't do much yet, but it has been fun to watch him grow. He went from sleeping all the time, and Jeff and I haven't to wake him up to feed him, to getting up every hour to 3 hours. We are trying to read to him even though he doesn't understand the words to get him comfortable with reading. So far he just stares at us like we are the weirdest parents on the face of the planet. But it is certainly enteratining. He loves his pacifier, and hates baths. Everytime we give him a bath he has a look of fear like "how can you do this to me?" We'll work on that over time.

I've learned a lot about boys and gravity and how this typically equals getting your clothes wet at least twice a day. Jeff has learned to be an expert swaddler...I however need some work. This typically results in putting clothes on Reid rather than swaddling him because in about 10 minutes he has completely unwrapped himself. Mostly I've learned that you have to make decisions that are best for your family and it isn't always what everyone else tells you to do.

I definitly have felt more out of my element than I ever have. But I'm learning quickly. The best part is that throughout all the stress (and btw recovery after childbirth is not fun), that I'm so in love with my little guy and I feel honored to be a part of his life.

The 1/2 is Finished!

I did it! I reached the goal. The best part of it is that I ran the whole way and my goal was only to run half. I can't believe it and have never been prouder of myself. Results are below:

Sarah Banner #41122

Chandler, AZ

Age: 28 Gender: F

Distance	HALF MAR
Clock Time	3:24:46
Chip Time	2:44:16
Overall Place	15149 / 21460
Gender Place	8558 / 13486
Division Place	1606 / 2223
Age Grade	40.1%
Pace	12:32
Ttlrace	21460
Ttldiv	2223
Ttlsex	13486
5 Km	36:22
10 Km	1:14:11
1

Another One Bites the Dust

So today was a great day. I actually feel like a runner. I may not be ready to tackle 13 miles, but I did get to 4.8 which is one more goal off the list. Now if I can just get to 5 I will be that much closer to reaching my goals. It took me about an hour to do it, but hey I got there. At this rate if I can keep this up I can finish this 1/2 Marathon in about 3 hours and 15 minutes.

Things are changing all around me and in a good way. I enjoy clothes shopping now, and rarely have those moments where I feel I'm too pleasantly plump to look good in clothes. I get excited about running rather than dreading it, and have officially gone down 6 pants sizes and 2 ring sizes. Crazy....

The holidays are soon here which marks my one year anniversary of being on weight watchers, my 2 year marriage anniversary, and another birthday that will get me that much closer to 30. Yikes. Overall life is good....and I just must keep up the momentum to have each goal bite the dust. It also marks that time of year where things get busy....just like the boy scouts say, we must be prepared.

Before and After

Just for fun, I thought I would show Jeff and I's before and after pics to show how far along we've come in our goals. It has been one awesome year filled with blessings.

Celebrations

So I started thinking about how I'm going to celebrate when I finish this Marathon thing. To me, it is important to celebrate your accomplishments. It is what keeps me going.

Jeff and I were planning on a Cruise to the Mexican Riveria for our anniversary/birthday/celebrate weight loss/have fun before the Marathon. I was stoked. But...when all the $$$ added up with rushing passport fees, and the lack of reliable internet service (needed when you are teaching online classes) That dream quickly went away. So....not sure what the alternative plan is...all I know that is after I cross the finish line, I want to go on vacation and eat lots of food that is bad for me (Just for a week).

I'm trying to get to the point where I can run consistently before taking a long walking break. So far that effort hasn't gotten anywhere. I push myself and feel okay (tired but okay) but the moment I stop I realize that I can't actually breath and am about to faint. Not such a good thing. My goal is to figure out how to read my body signals while I'm running. I can't seem to find a balance between pushing myself enough and pushing myself too much.

3 Months Minus one week to go......Cross your fingers I make it!

Rising From the Ashes

Today was a great day. I hit a new stride of running for an hour and got to 4.66 miles. I was thinking back, and I would have never imagined a year ago that I could even possibly do this. So if nothing else I have that.

The thing I'm struggling with is balancing my eating habits with exercise. Its almost like since I know I'm exercising consistently that I convince myself it is okay to eat poorly. I'm not sure exactly where that comes from, but it is making it difficult to meet my weight loss goal that I am so close to.

I bought a watch today that tells me how far, fast, how many steps, and my heart rate. It is mostly accurate, but I think it will help to run outside which I still struggle with.

2 Months to go.... I can't wait until I reach that finish line because it will mean so many things. I was talking to a friend of mine about why I'm doing it. Its closure to the year, this is a year where I've built my confidence and it has shown in my marriage, work, and physically. I know if I ever will have confidence to run 13 miles, now is the time.

I was listening to a song while running by Vienna Teng. In one of the lyrics it says, "Like a phoenix, I rise from the ashes." That is what this year is about, rising from the ashes.