Seriously, 2009, already!

A new year….wow. 2008 flew by. I am one of those people that really cherish the beginning of a new year, a fresh slate, a clean start. I think those of us that are planners to a fault (I freaking love making list and filling out calendar) get a little giddy around Jan 1. This year is no exception. When I look back on 2008, it is filled with mixed emotions. The year got off to a horrible start with the unsuspected, premature death of my father. My father and I were did not have the type of relationship where we talked every day or even month, mostly he just answered the phone when I called and we exchanged small talk, but we were undeniably close as I was always daddy’s little girl. We were so much alike that it was hard to not feel like he was part of my cloth. I go many days without thinking about him and then BAM it hits me – my father is dead, I am 29 years old and have no father. It is usually something little a white Explorer will drive by (what he drove) or a box of chocolate covered cherries will sneak up on me in a store (his fav) and my insides will be reduced to mush. It’s almost been a year, but it doesn’t sting any less. The months that followed I was very numb and I don’t recall many particulars, but I had some definite fitness highlights. I was training for the Cincinnati marathon and was very proud of myself b/c I got out there in many a snowstorm and ran my butt off, many times alone. I had my 2 best 30Ks ever in Feb and March. My running pace was finally coming down and I found in 5Ks that I could easily hold under a 9 min pace. This was new for me! On my long distance runs I was constantly well below a 10 min pace, giving me hope of being well under my goal of 4:20 for Cinti. Unfortunately a foot injury got a hold of me with a vengeance and I opted to sit Cincinnati out and took a whole month off of running. In May I had an awesome trip to Lake Placid with my friend Kim and her training group to ride and run the IM Lake Placid course. That was lesson in humility! But I was able to get through 1 loop biking and 13 miles running. The summer was full of lots of training. It seemed that every Sat & Sun were ruled by running, biking or bricks. I enjoyed training with some people from the tri club like Beth, Jen, Tracie, Janet, Gina and Laura P! As well as my normal running companions Sara, Sherri, Ilana and Karen! I felt good and strong. I only did 2 sprint tris b/c I found out the hard way that I am absolutely terrified of open water swimming, yikes! My tri future is uncertain at this point as I have only swam a handful of times since July. Not good! But I found that I really do love biking and running, so if those are the races I stick to next year than I am fine with it! Gary also got a road bike in June and we started riding together weekly, which was great. I look forward to getting back on the road with him in 2009! In late summer I started training for Akron and my times on my long runs were even better. I markedly upped by running miles and was averaging around 30ish miles running a week and 50 biking. All the biking helped and I saw my times on my long runs continue to come down. I thought I might have a shot at getting near 4:00 for the Akron marathon in Sept….until I got pregnant!What! Yes, just like that. Gary and I had talked about it, but I thought it would take us awhile, but I was wrong. I knew I wasn’t feeling well in Aug, but thought there was just no way I was baking a baby, but I was. I continued to run 10-15 miles for my long runs for the first month or so of pregnancy to keep Sara company on her marathon training.

But come Oct, I was slowing way down. In Sept, I did a marathon relay with 4 other pregnant women and we finished in under 4 hours! That was great and we even got to be in the paper. In Oct Gary and I went to CA & OR on vacation where the baby and I did a half marathon. But that was about it, I knew from that race that the running was coming to an end as I was sick for a few days afterwards and my feet and belly ached. Since then I have been trying to keep up the exercise, I have good weeks and bad. The loss of my beloved Taiko in November was just awful and led to a horrible month. Ugh then we got a really bad puppy! 2009 is scary people. I am having a baby! Hold the phone. I am going to be responsible for keeping another human alive. Eek. And I turn 30, double Eek!!! All joking aside, I can’t wait to meet this little monster and work hard to get back on my feet. I think I won’t be setting any big goals for 2009. I would like to see myself at least ready for half marathons by the fall. I want to concentrate on getting the weight off and getting back under 9 min miles before I worry about another marathon or endurance event. If I can get myself back in the pool soon, I’d like to think I could do the same 2 sprint tris I did last year and they were in small inland lakes and I didn’t have much issue with those. I would also like to do Eddy’s Sweet Corn challenge, at least the 50 miler. I think that is enough to think about. I do know that 2009 will probably be the best year yet.

Is it 2009 yet?

Okay holidays are over...well we still have one more visit with G's mom. I am honestly not a very big fan of the holidays and am glad to have them behind me (just too much rush, money and chaos). It was wonderful to see my family though. I always love to get to spend time with my mom and sister Tina and her hubby Tim, but this year was extra special b/c my other sister Melanie and her hubby and kids were in town. They moved to SC awhile back and we just don't see each other enough. So, it was awesome to see them and spend time together. But back to reality. I am glad we have a short work week this week, that will be nice. I have a monthly doc appt on Wed. I plan to talk to him about any ideas to help with the fact that my back is killing me. Hopefully he will have some ideas on some things to try to alleviate the low back aches. My eating has been out of control lately, so I am going to make a conscious effort to cut back on sugar starting tomorrow. Holiday junk be gone!

23 weeks

Yay, I am almost in my 6th month. Exciting. I hope you all had a fun Xmas and to all of you with new babies, I'm sure it was just the best Xmas ever. We went to Gary's aunt's house last night and her cousin had her 5 month old there. She is just so cute and smiley. I can't help but think how fun Xmas will be next year. This year is tough b/c it's the first year without my dad. It's hard not to focus on that. I haven't thought much about it, but we are heading to my mom's today and we will do Xmas & Stockings tomorrow. My dad really liked to open presents. Oh well, next year we'll all have the baby to focus on and I'm sure it will be much more fun.

Nursery Decorating

Can I just go on the record and say it's absolute bullshit how expensive crib bedding is!?! It's for an infant for goodness sake. Every time I find something I really like I then find it's $200+, sometimes $400 or $600. Who spends that kind of money on something that is going to get pooped, peed and puked on? Not me. I am starting to plan out the nursery. I am going to go with a tree/bird theme. And I am going to make the main focal point of the nursery a big tree with different colored paper leaves, it will look similar to this:


I found a cute set of bird bedding at baby supermall on sale - babysupermall.com. Ultimately I will probably end up going with it b/c it's only $99 for the whole set. Granted I don't like all 6 pieces, but I love the bumper and skirt, so I can just get plain sheets and blankets for the rest. If I don't do that, I found this lady who makes custom bedding and her prices aren't too bad, here's one I like: http://babylovin.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=22&products_id=62

I like the idea of buying from an independent person as opposed to a store. She has some beautiful fabric selections. Again if I just got a bumper and skirt from her it would be under $200. But then I found this! It's not available until 2009, so I don't know how much it is, but how stinking cute.
http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/droolicious/archive/2008/09/16/abc-kids-expo-2008-crib-grass-crib-bumper-from-boon.aspx

Unfortunately it doesn't indicate where the sheets are from, they are too cute.

This is my favorite bedding, but I can't spend this much: http://www.allmodernbaby.com/DwellStudio-Charlotte-Series-DWL1139.html

And just for your perusing pleasure here are some great etsy shops:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5696519&section_id=5661011
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=18654793
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6949939

I spent all last night searching the web and am sick of it. So, like I said I will most likely end up with the baby super mall set. Then use the tree to plan the colors of the room around. I am thinking purple or aqua. We have 3 rooms upstairs, we already have an orangish bathroom and a green bedroom, the hallway is eggshell. I'd like a bright color that isn't too obnoxious b/c we do plan to sell the house as soon as I go back to work full time and the house market looks a little better. Whenever that will be!

On the baby front....my belly button is starting to kind of change. Ugh. It's flatter, not as inverted as before. When does that thing start popping out!

Pic update

Here is a 22 week belly shot and to join the crowd, I will include a covered belly shot too. It looks so much smaller with a shirt on.




Still feeling pretty good. I worked out 4 times last week and worked out yesterday, so 1 day so far this week. My goal is 6 times a week, but I will likely not be able to get to that until after the holidays. It is bitterly cold outside, so I don’t think I will be doing my outside run I had planned after work today, but hope to make it to spin class. I have also included a ridiculous picture of our dogs from last night, I couldn’t resist. Seriously who sleeps like that? Fonzi is such a brown noser. And lastly a pick of this adorable diaper caddy I got at TJ Maxx/Home Goods. I filled it up with goodies, including the softest little sheep I got for free at Bath and Body works, score. I love the pattern on the basket. Too stinking cute.

22 weeks

Woohoo, today the ticker turns over to 22 weeks. I can't believe I have under 20 weeks today. If I say 18 weeks it sounds like nothing, but if I think of it as 4 + months, all the sudden it sounds like an eternity. I am curious how much do your babies kick? I swear mine is crazy active. I feel it constantly throughout the day when I am at work, I think its the position I sit in. Then I don't feel it much in the evening, but as soon as I lay down in bed the baby goes crazy. Last night I got up to take the dog out to potty at about 3 am and laid back down and the baby was going crazy. It was kicking so strongly that I lay awake for awhile just feeling it. I contemplated waking Gary up b/c I am convinced it's strong enough to feel on the outside now, but you know you can't really tell if you're feeling it inside and out very easily until you literally see the stomach move. I had Gary try to feel the other day and he couldn't. There's another question - when could people feel the baby kick on the outside?

21 weeks

21 weeks, woohoo offically over half way through! Lol. Current belly shot to the left (notice the gnarly veins! I am like a roadmap!). I had a great day. I joined a new gym and started the day off with a nice workout, weights and cardio. Running and I really aren't getting along right now. It's just already so uncomfortable for me to run. I feel like my belly is going to fall out my hoohah or something. Also I have to pee the whole time. I wonder if it has to do with my placenta pervia? For those who don't know, that means my placenta is below the baby, so it's lower than normal. The pressure when I run is just so distracting. I did 2 miles on the dreadmill and then jumped on the ET for another 20 mins.
I also went to a Xmas party today of my tri/running girlfriends. I got to meet my friend Salty's (blog is the LIttle one) 3 week old son. He is just gorgeous and she looked great. It was nice to get out and do something and so nice to talk to someone who just went through what I'll have to soon enough!

My baby is kicking constantly, it's so fun, but just odd to me how freaking active she is. Also, my back is really killing me. By the end of the day I just have to lay down, I can't stand it. I think I'm having sciatic nerve issues...I think? I have a prenatal massage this coming Sat. I can't wait.

Look how big little Fonzi is getting!

Check out my rack

Being pregnant is an amazing thing. Full of good and bad all mushed together to just equal a weird time in life. Take for instance my boobs. At this point in time I have an amazing rack. I myself can’t keep my hands off of them, poor Gary is defenseless. If I want something done all I have to do is flash him. I can’t imagine how my life would have been different had I had these puppies in my early 20s where I mostly just drank and waitressed and then drank more. Probably a good thing I am getting them now at the ripe mature age of 29 and know how to use them properly. Oh you don’t want to paint the basement tonight…well look at these BAM! I am used to being a flat as a board gal who had to wear a nearly B bra. NEARLY B, I repeat, I'll let that sink in (it's a nice way of saying i need an A cup bra). Now all of the sudden I am overflowing the 34B I picked up a few weeks into the pregnancy. It’s time to move to the C cup I think. Oh vey. So, I have these great boobs, my clothes look so much better from the 1st rib cage up. But then again my stomach is now equal to my boobs in how far it sticks out, so really, the boobs don’t really do my body outlook a whole lot of good. On top of that they are absolutely covered in a map of veins that you could see from New Jersey if I was standing outside topless. But nonetheless I have boobs! And they feel weird. Just this morning I bent over the seat to get something out of the back of the car and I smooshed my boob and holy shit batman it hurt. So, I have these great boobs, and as long as I have a shirt on they look pretty good.
So, score 1 point for something more attractive going on.

But then you move on to fun pregnancy symptom #2. I fart like crazy. Gary can attest. I spent the entire night last night stinking up our room so badly and so loudly that I laughed until I cried. The dogs looked at me in shock and Gary had to watch the Cavs game with the covers pulled half way up his face. Now prior to pregnancy I was someone already obsessed with farts. Farts = damn funny as far as I am concerned. So I will lump this new super power into the positive developments of pregnancy category.

However, the excessive sweating, urination, snot and weight gain….those can go into the bad category. That and the out of breath feeling I am plagued with most of the time. I must say that overall I really do like being pregnant. Of course this is coming from someone only 21 weeks along. And a bitch who never had a day of morning sickness. So, my tune will likely change when I am all of 5’2 and weighing so much you can roll me to my cube at work and covered in stretch marks on my new fantastic boobies. But I love feeling the constant flutter of the baby, reminding me I really am doing something great here. Going from someone who was pretty ambivalent to children. I get it now, before the baby is even outside of me. I get why people are obsessed with their kids and act like they are little gifted wrapped packages that were dropped from the heavens. I used to get so annoyed that people acted like if you weren’t having children you were missing out on something great. Half way through this little science experiment, I think they may be right. I always thought that pregnancy would be the worst, I didn’t want to ruin my body or put all my workouts on hold. But really in the scheme of things who cares if I spend my weekend biking 5 hours and running another 2. I’m not winning any races, I’m not even placing in any races…so taking a year off it really not going to make a difference. Baking this baby is a lot more fun!

daycare

Is $215 a week expensive for daycare? I have no idea how much this should cost. There is a small baptist church within walking distance from my house. 2 people recommended it to me and told me they love it and the staff are awesome. They have a waiting list, but happen to have an opening for July, when we would be needing daycare. I just don't know how much daycare normally is.

Let the nesting begin

Thank you for the comments ladies! But the fact of the matter is that I have gained 20 lbs already! For someone my height (5'3 on a good day) you really don't want to see me gain more than 30 lbs. So at this rate I probably will. Which is not the end of the world. I think my doc was okay to tell me to watch it, it just stings to hear.

I ordered some new DVDs from the lovely Netflix so that I could work out at home. I did one last night that I liked, it was some ballet lady and it was yoga/pilates fushion. My belly is sore in a good way today. My plan is to keep a DVD for 2 weeks and do it 2-3 times a week, and then do my standard Slim in Six (lunges, squats, weights) 2-3 times a week. Then send it back and get a new one. I also think I need to join the gym sooner than I was expecting. Getting outside in this weather is just not going well which means my cardio is null and void. So after Xmas off to Urban Active I will go ready to give them a large sum of money. Yikes.

Seriously could we get some more snow and rain here in Cleveland? What a wet 2 months we have had. On the good news front, my lovely husband has been busting his ass the past few weeks getting our nasty unfinished basement finished! He repaired the drywall damage on one wall and the ceiling. He repainted the ceilings white and the walls a bright yellow we agreed on. We were going to get carpet, but after getting a quote for a looottt of money we got paranoid that it would get damp down there eventually and ruin the carpet. So, we opted for this flooring made out of recycled tires, how green of us. It comes in big puzzle pieces and it looks like a floor you would see in a gym. Which is pretty appropriate b/c one side of the basement will have a weight bench and all the free weights and then the middle of the room will have our cushy futon and a tv/xbox setup and then our 2 bikes on trainers in view of the tv. I hope it will be nice enough down there that someone could sleep and not feel like they are in our gross basement. It will also become a much needed storage area for all things baby I am sure. Baby things are so stinking big – excersaucers, pack and plays, swings, high chairs, who has room for all this stuff! I expect our basement to be sleep ready by Jan 1. I will take some pics. Next room after that to get a makeover is our office, it will be turned into the guest room. It’s tiny so it will be minimalist at best.

Pics

Here is a week 20 shot of meh big belly(please ignore the monkey pj pants) and G and me from Turkey Day and Mushi being ever so handsome and the pup.

20 weeks

Officially, no really I did the math right this time. This is it folks, 20 weeks down. Where has the time gone. I cannot believe I am half way through this pregnancy, maybe more than half way I guess! I will take a new belly shot tonight, so you can see my buddha belly in all my glory. I think I am going to get that line the runs down your belly vertically, not sure what it’s called, but I seem to have a faint line starting near my ribs down to the pubes. Odd. It’s not dark yet, I hope it doesn’t get dark, I am a very pale person. Oh well. Refelecting back on the last 20 weeks I must say pregnancy has not been so bad. It’s different for sure and can be very trying. I think for people who were really active it can be a bit of a rude awaking at times. My get up and go must have got up and went…what song is that from? I am now officially starting to freak out! Not in a bad way, there is just soooo much to do and soooo little time. The countdown begins. I like making lists, so here are my immediate concerns and the order I (well mostly Gary!) plan to do them in:

1. Fix drywall in basement, paint basement yellow, install flooring
2. Move area rug and futon down to basement
3. Buy tv, tv stand and lighting for basement
4. Arrange weight bench area and bike/trainers in basement
5. Get new CycleOps Fluid 2 trainer as a congratulatory you now have a finished basement gift! Basement done by Jan 1
6. Pull all furniture junk out of office and move to basement temporarily
7. Paint office auqa and baseboards white
8. Bring queen size bed and bamboo rug from upstairs down to office along with desk from our room and Gary’s nightstand, arrange in room, computer set up will now be in this room, along with cat food stuff. Office done by Feb 1.
9. Remove door from our bedroom and get crib into our room where desk used to be
10. Paint downstairs bathroom and closet in some complimentary color to the office
11. go through towels, wash cloth heap and get rid of nasty ones, clear off shelves in this bathroom for baby bath stuff, start buying baby bath stuff! Bathroom done by March 1.
12. Now it’s nursery time, move all remaining furniture from this room to the basement temporarily
13. Paint nursery purple with white baseboards, use rug from office
14. Set up crib (get from G's dad's house), try and arrange twin bed in this room as well if it leaves enough room (figure I will be sleeping in there sometimes)
15. Buy glider and dresser from Craigslist, maybe changing table?
16. Order decals for the walls – trees and birds off of etsy, just need to pick
17. Await buying anything else until after shower
18. Showers in Feb and March, Nursery done by April 1
19. Last if there is time, paint linen closet upstairs and arrange, clean up big closet in bedroom and Gary’s closet in nursery to make room for baby storage/items
    
    Sheesh. Now I am even more freaked out!

Who got my early bird worm?

Why oh why oh why can’t I wake up in the morning anymore? Not so long ago bloggy friends I was a morning person. I have been struggling with morning workouts since sometime this summer, well before I got knocked up. I recall making a go at 5:30 workouts again at some point, but I was so thrashed from my weekend warrior ways that I never got back to it. Now my dear hubby is off of night shifts after several months of working 8pm to 7 am. He is not getting up at 5:30. He takes the pup out and puts the pup back in bed with me. Pup does not go to sleep and I no longer fall asleep as easily as I used to, that I believe it baby related. It’s harder to get comfortable for one thing and the other is I just lay there with my head a jumble. Anyway, so I wake up at 5:30 too, and lay there half awake until 6:45 – 7ish. Why oh why don’t I just get my ass out of bed and work out? I am so tired when I get home from work that it’s not happening often. So, since I’m not getting quality sleep during this 5:30 to 7 window, wouldn’t it make sense just to get up??? But alas I just can’t seem to muster the willpower, any ideas bloggy friends? I think my real problem is that I have an hour or two in the middle of the night where I lay awake. As I said I can’t fall asleep very well right now, so when puppy wakes me around 2 or 3 to go out, I drift in and out of conscientiousness until 5am sometimes. I do go to bed at like 9:30 though… But regardless b/c of this mid night wake up I am just totally woozy when G gets up and can’t seem to get it together.

I have firmly decided that all those people who say that being pregnant in the winter as opposed to the summer are dead wrong. If I do this again, and it’s planned, I will be getting pregnant shortly after the new year. Being pregnant equals feeling tired and lazy all the time. Winter’s short days equals feeling tired and lazy all the time. Not a good combo! Now I know some will say you don’t want to have a newborn in the winter, but I don’t care, they are wrong J Being most pregnant when it’s warm also means you get to wear flowy little dresses and flats. Being pregnant when it’s cold means I have to have jeans and tops and coats and ugh. Okay rant over.

Classes

Oh vey we are going to be busy over the next few months. I just signed Gary and I up for the following classes that our hospital offers. It might be overkill, but we know nothing:

Breastfeeding 101 – Sat, Jan 10, 9-12
Baby Basics – Sat Jan 31, 9-12
Fast Track Lamaze/Child Birth Prep – Sat, Feb 21 & 28, 9-12
CPR for infants – Sun March 8, 1-4
Night with the Anesthesiologist– Tues, March 10, 6:30-8

Plus throw in puppy class on Sat for the next 5 weeks, 2 showers sometime in Feb & March and I'm going to visit my friend over MLK weekend in Bloomington. Shewww. Time is going to fly.

Tuesday doc appt

I had a doc appt at 8:45 this morning. AS usual they made me wait forever. I got irritated after 20 mins and went and asked to be rescheduled at which point, they had another doctor see me. Sheesh. For all of 10 mins. It's hard to be excited for the appt when you have been stewing in the waiting room thinking about how you are going to be even later to work than you anticipated. This was my shortest wait yet at 25 mins, normally it's 45-60 mins. I have contemplated changing practices, but this one is 5 mins from my work and delivers by my house. So, que sera I suppose. But I am so impatient, nothing makes me more upset than waiting.

This new doc pretty much told me I have gained too much weight, which makes me sad. I have struggled with my weight for years and always been a little chunkier than I should have been considering the level of working out I did, training for marathons, biking 80 miles a week, etc. I was about 5-7 lbs overweight when I got preggo, so if you take that into consideration I weight 23 more lbs than I would want to weigh otherwise and I am only 19 weeks along. Yikes. I think I may end up in that 40-50 lbs weight gain category. I really wasn't too upset about the weight gain until the doc said I needed to watch it. Booo. In the scheme of things I know it doesn't matter, but for someone who has to fight to keep a lb off, this just scares me even more about what will come when it's time to get this weight off. I got back Dec 31 for another routine checkup and then Jan 5 to the hospital to see if my placenta moved and hopefully find out the sex!

They opened a new gym by our house, Urban Active. It's not far from our house, but is part of an outdoor mall, so the getting in and out and parking would be a pain in the ass. But get this! If you are a member, it's only $3/time or $15 a month to bring your baby (6wks and up) to the daycare at the gym. Now granted, who the hell knows who is watching your baby, but the guy said everyone who watches the kids is CPR/first aid certified and I'd be in the gym. I thought that was an amazing deal. I said to the guy, what if I want to work out for 3 hours! And he said 2 hours is the limit. I was just joking, I would have thought an hour was. So, I think we will join, it's $800 for the both of us for 18 months, which is pretty cheap. $10 a month cheaper than our current gym, but you have to pay it all up front and cash is a little tight right now with home renovations going on.

We have a lot to do to get our house in order. First piece of business is carpeting our basement, which means hubby has to repair the ceiling drywall and we have to paint the walls first. He started on the drywall yesterday, I hope he gets it finished this week. I am so ready for the basement to be done, so I can move everything out of the 2 bedrooms into the basement while we work on painting those rooms and figuring out what furniture will go where.