a little boy turns one

Last Sunday we celebrated Parker's first birthday.  His cousin, Russ, turned one just two days after him so we decided to have a joint party.  It was so much fun to plan with my sister-in-law, Dara and my mother-in-law, Dana.  They plan some awesome parties and I really enjoyed being a part of the inside scoop!  With an awesome party comes much more planning and preparation than I could have ever imagined.  I definitely was not blessed with the gift of planning or hostessing for that matter.  I learned a lot, though and maybe one day I'll plan an awesome party...or I'll just call them!  I still wonder how my wedding came together so well...ha!  Maybe it's because I had two years to plan.

We were so blessed with a wonderful day full of love and laughter.  So many of our friends and family came out to celebrate with us.  There was yummy food and dessert, lots of good conversation, kids playing, loving family, proud grandparents, fellowship with friends, and beaming parents.  We couldn't have asked for anything more. 

It's hard to believe Parker is one now.  He has grown and changed so much in just one short year.  I can barely remember a time when he was only (ha only!) 9.5 lbs and all he could do was eat, sleep, poop and snuggle.  Sometimes I long for those days, but most days I am content to watch him grow and learn.  He never ceases to put a smile on our faces.  They say your life is never the same after you have kids...they're right and I wouldn't have it any other way.  Do we have bad days? Yes...well we used to.  Knock on wood, life has been real grand lately.  Our household has been quite content.  But we definitely went through our ups and downs figuring out this parenting thing - really this Parker thing.  It's amazing the difference in temperament from one baby to another.  We've learned we really have to just do what works for us.  However, I do think it's important to ask others for advice and especially for support.

I'm working hard to enjoy each moment with Parker.  I can easily find myself rushing from one thing to the next constantly thinking of my mental "to-do" list.  However, I think I've gotten a lot better at slowing down and just being in the moment, especially when I'm with him.  This life is flying by too fast to not take the time to "stop and smell the roses".  In fact just two times this past week, I was putting Parker to bed and he was not quite settled enough to lay him down.  Instead, I did something I haven't done in what feels like forever.  I rocked him.  It brought tears to my eyes.  I miss these tender moments with him.  Just watching his eyes droop, feeling his body relax in the security of my embrace and seeing the innocence in his face as he drifted off to sleep made me both sad and proud.  I am sad those days are behind us, but I am proud to be a mommy of such a wonderful little boy.  He is happy, loving, strong and healthy.  I praise God for the blessing he is to Brent and I.  He may not be perfect, but he is perfect for us.

15 miles can kiss my butt

So Friday I decided to take a personal day from work to run Saturday's long run.  I knew I was having Parker's first birthday party on Sunday and would have a lot of preparation to do on Saturday.  We decided to have a joint birthday party with his cousin, Russ.  They were born 2 days apart.  My in-laws are amazing party planners so I was excited to plan a party with them.  However, a good party comes with lots of prep.  Therefore, I thought it best to run Friday instead of Saturday (lately I've been worthless after my long runs). 

Soooo I have been sick of my "go to" routes that I've been using for my long runs.  I am such a head case when it comes to knowing how many hills I have to run or when I know exactly what's coming.  I'd rather run something I've never run before.  I thought about driving to White Clay Creek to run, but have never been there so was worried about the terrain.  Instead, I looked up some routes on mapmyrun.com.  I found a 14.8 and decided it would be easy enough to add .2 at the end.  So I dropped Parker off at my mom's, planted a water bottle along with some Gatorade chews and set out on my new route feeling quite excited.  Around mile 8 I started to feel thirsty which was perfect because that's right around where I had planted my water and chews.  I stopped drank, ate and stretched my achilles a little then hit the road again.  I had about 4 miles left and I was dying of thirst - this has never happened to me before.  It was not fun.  My mouth was ridiculously dry.  All I could think about was where I could possibly go to get some water.  I was also beginning to calculate the remainder of my route (by this point I was at a familiar distance from home) and did not think the rest of the way home would equal 4 more miles - maybe be 3 if I was lucky.  I continued on my run quickly remembering a friend who lives on the road I was getting ready to turn down.  I texted her to see if she was home.  She didn't get back to me so I passed her house. I began debating going straight home (another mile) instead of the round about way (2.5 more miles) when she texted me she was home!  WOOHOO!  I was ecstatic.  I practically sprinted there - lol.  This actually tacked on about a half a mile.  I chugged a bottle of water while we chatted for a bit and set back out.  I continued running and quickly grew thirsty again.  I had to stop and walk.  It was crazy and annoying.  I didn't understand where it was coming from.  Maybe I didn't eat or drink enough the day before....I dunno.  I began running again and as I approached my house I realized I would have to tack on another half mile.  I did it and ended up averaging 9:38 miles which made me feel good, especially considering I had walked.  However, I can not figure out why my calculations in distance continue to be wrong.  Mapmyrun.com says one thing, the Runtastic app on my phone says another and my car says another.  I normally use Runtastic, but I had recently run an 8 mile route suggested by a friend.  She uses her car to calculate.  When I ran it using Runtastic it was a half mile less.  Then when I plugged it into mapmyrun.com it was still off.  How do I know which is the most accurate?  Does anyone have any insight/advice about this?  I mean I guess it's better to run more (which seems to be what Runtastic makes me do) than less.  It just drives me nuts. 

Needless to say I'm driving myself nuts thinking about 16 this weekend.  I just feel like I don't have it in me.  In the past I have been nervous about running distances past 13.1, but I never lacked the confidence like I have been lately.  Not to mention how I really liked that route and would only have to add a mile to it, but am scared since I felt so crappy the second half. 

back on the blogging bandwagon

Well as you can see it has been quite a while since I last blogged an entry (November 2011 - insane!).  It's actually been an awkward while...so long that I felt weird writing an entry.  But it's been on my mind so much the last few months that I couldn't ignore it anymore.  I have to admit when I opened my page I was taken back by how long it has actually been - almost 2 years!! I had no idea it had been that long.  Then I discovered this little gem of an entry that I neglected to post from January 2012 (which must be the reason I didn't realize so much time had passed):

Well as you can tell I haven't been posting which means you can infer I have not been running...well at least not running 20 miles a week.  I kept up with 20 miles a week until about the second week in January when I discovered I was going to be a mom!  Yes, I am pregnant.  I am due September 12, 2012.  Therefore, I have yet again missed out on running my first marathon and I will not accomplish my goal of running a marathon before I turn 30.  Oh well, there could be way worse reasons than our first baby! I didn't plan on continuing to blog since I have nothing to write about running, but I just miss it way too much.  So here's a brief synopsis of the last few months.

I tried to continue running as much as I could.  However, I had some minor complications in the beginning of my pregnancy so my doctor recommended no running.  This lasted for about 5 weeks.  As you can imagine getting back to running after such a hiatus is challenging in and of itself let alone 2 months pregnant.  I was able to run between 2 and 3 miles about 4 days a week.  I walked on the other days.  About a week ago it became a real challenge - lots of pulling on my muscles/ligaments in my lower abdomen and feeling like I was going to pee my pants!  Ugh, such an annoying feeling!  Now I have taken up prenatal yoga, which I am loving, and walking.  Hopefully I won't get too out of shape...I have to run this marathon next year!

Now I am 22 weeks 6 days pregnant and our little one is 8 inches long and weighs 1.2 lbs.  It sure is amazing how quickly they grow!  My belly is definitely showcasing this, haha!  Recently I started to feel the baby move and Brent even felt a kick last week!  We are not finding out if the baby is a boy or a girl...we definitely didn't plan on this.  One day Brent and I were talking and we both decided we wanted to be surprised.  It was actually funny how nonchalant we were.

I have to admit, I do regret being on a blogging hiatus for my pregnancy practically first year (just 4 days shy) of my son, Parker's life.  However, life's too short for regrets, especially about such a silly matter.  So here's to blogging again.  It will be interesting to see exactly how many entries I will actually write now that I am a full time working mom training for my first marathon (yet again!).  I'm currently in my 9th week of training!  Funny, I thought I would have been able to run it this past May.  It took me a bit longer to get back into running shape than I imagined due to 16.5 hours (2.5 pushing) of  labor resulting in an emergency c-section.  Even though I didn't make the Delaware Marathon I was able to run the Delaware Half.  I was very pleased with my time (2 hours - not my best, not my worst).  I am officially signed up to run the Philadelphia Marathon on November 17.  Eeeeek!!  Training has gone well thus far.  I've had some interesting feelings of dull pain in my achilles, but it doesn't hurt to the touch when I'm finished.  I'm taking this as a good sign.  I'm stretching, but admittedly not as much as I should.  Hey it's better than nothing.  Especially after a 7 mile run on a Wednesday morning when I've been trying to get out of the house by 7:15 with a dawdling husband and a hungry, playful little boy (who will be a year in 4 days - aaaah I can't believe it!). 

Needless to say training has been a little different as a mom, but I have to admit it's been way easier than I anticipated.  Heck, I'm half way done at the end of this week.  I have been following Hal Higdon's Novice 1 program...well almost.  I have done no cross training unless you consider vacuuming, teaching or carrying around a 24lb kid as cross training.  It's amazing how much muscle mass I have lost since pregnancy.  I really should do some kind of weight training, but I just can't fit it into my schedule as a mommy working full time -  which we will leave to discuss in a different entry.  I will leave you with some good news...going back to work after a year off has not been nearly as hard as I had imagined - praise the Lord.  I am so thankful for supportive family, friends and colleagues - this has made all the difference.  Beer has helped too. ;)