WA-HOOOOO!!!!

Have I mentioned that I love, love, love my doctor?  He has delivered both of our sons, and I'm just so incredibly grateful for the care that he has given to our family.  

Went in for my two week c-section check up today, with Mr. Nicholas.  He slept the entire time and made my doctor grin from ear to ear.  (I think he enjoys seeing the babies that he has delivered.) The doctor needed to re-check my incision one last time before the six week appointment.  The incision is looking great, basically the scar is pretty dark and the incision line is numb.  However, the scabs are completely gone and it is healing quickly.  It looks like a happy face when I'm sitting on the couch.  

Before the doctor even had a chance to check the incision, I bombarded him with a question. I asked him as I was laying back onto the table, "SO...What are my restrictions now that I'm past the two week mark???"  He gave me the usual "no strenuous lifting", "no major abdominal exercises", etc, etc.  I noticed that he made no mention of running, so I just threw it out there, fully expecting to hear a six week restriction.  And, MUCH to my surprise, he said to take things easy for just one more week!!!!!!  I almost jumped off the table with joy.  He, of course, made sure to elaborate on his answer by adding that I need to take it easy, stop if anything hurts, etc, etc.  I nodded happily and promised to take things easy.  I fully intend to take running easy in the weeks to come, but just to be given the clearance and to know that I'm one step closer to running with my girlfriends again; makes me SO incredibly happy.  

It looks like the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot is not ruled out at this time! Heck, I might even be able to participate in another little race in just a few weeks.  (You can choose the distance-two, four, or six miles.  I'm just going for the 2 miles, at this time.)

Had to share the happy news! And it's also time for some more cute pictures of our sweet baby boy...

Someone's Ready for the Beach!

Michael and I went to the park this morning for a walk around the trail and for morning play time. He was such a sweetheart on our walk. I pushed him in the jogging stroller, and he was (surprisingly) quiet and contemplative throughout the walk. At one point, we saw three men mowing the soccer fields, and he asked, "Why is everyone mowing the grass today, Mommy?" He also took note of the debris from yesterday's storm. The leaves, sticks, and pine cones littered the trail; and he just couldn't understand why. : ) It's been awhile since I have taken him for a walk in the jogging stroller, and honestly I am floored with his patience. It's awesome! We'll have to start going more often, now that he isn't so antsy!! (That behavior must have been a two year old thing...that, and bribery now works!)



Once we finished the walk, we went directly to the play ground. As I was pushing Michael on the swings a cute mom walked over and began to push her daughter on the swing beside Michael. We started to chat a little bit, usually I'm shy about starting up conversations with other moms. As it turns out, I'm SO GLAD that I spoke with her! She lives on the same street as Michael and Mary Jane AND (get this...) she's a runner and a teacher and she has a child and she wants to have another baby! It's about time! Now I know two people who run in town!! Hurray!! Of course, I didn't have a pen with me to give her my name and number, but she said that she and her daughter would stop by sometime. (Maybe I scared her off!!)

Our town is not the easiest town to make new friends. When we moved to our neighborhood I thought that it would be so easy to meet new people, but it hasn't been. While our neighbors are incredibly nice and considerate, we don't have children the same age and they aren't outside a whole lot. I have made a great friend around the corner, though, and we run together quite a bit. (Except, not now because of the pregnancy...) This new girl and I were commenting on how difficult it is to meet people in town or to become close friends with neighbors, when you're teaching. Yes, I could join a Mom's Club for the summer months, but I guess for whatever reason I'm reluctant.

So...We're having a great day. The walk and the play time were wonderful! And, the gazpacho that we made is going to be DELICIOUS in a few hours!! Yummy!! Michael helped make it today. He was the taste tester.

Time to go for a trial run on the treadmill... I haven't run once this week! It'll be a pure delight, I'm sure. : ( Eleven (actually, maybe twelve or thirteen...) weeks to go, right?

And, We're Gonna Race!

Michael is just as excited as I am about the impending half marathon, if not more. I told him about our weekend plans on Monday night during his bath. We talked about who is going to run in the race on Sunday, which Uncles he is going to see this coming weekend, and we talked about spending the night in a hotel. He was full of excitement on Monday night, and that excitement is carrying him right through the week. Yesterday morning, when we got to the sitter's house, he began telling her all about his Mommy RACING! and his Granddad RACING! I If you ask Michael about the race, he gives a "fake whistle" and pretends he is starting the race. He will then yell, with arm motions, "We say: GO, MOMMY, GO!!" He also says that he is going to run, too, and that my dad and I are going to chase him. That is certainly going to be true one of these days, but hopefully not this year.

Yesterday, as I was driving to school, after dropping Michael off; I couldn't help but hope (and wish) that he finds the same fulfillment in running one day. I know I shouldn't be exclusive in saying "running", and I should hope that he finds fulfillment with music or art or basketball or even football (!yiiikkes, don't want my baby to get tackled!). Running is such an empowering sport. There's nothing like warming yourself on a cold, winter's morning with a good, fast, strong run. To feel the crisp, fresh air fill your lungs in the dead of winter; what a blessing! Crazy as it sounds, I mean it!

It's so hard to explain the joy that I have found in running. It has brought so many wonderful friends into my life, people that I probably never would have met if I was not a runner. As a high school student, I would have laughed in disbelief if someone would have told me that I would go on to complete a marathon or wake at five am to meet running friends for a morning jaunt. What a gift my coach gave me as a seventh grade girl. It's funny to think that this love started so many years ago, at our park, here in our little town.

I can only hope the same for our son.

(The picture is from the 1st time I did this same half marathon postpartum! Michael was about nine months in this picture. We had such a wonderful time on that race weekend....)

~A Restful Weekend~

Not much going on over this way today...

We've spent a large part of the weekend just hanging out around our home.  Michael, like the rest of the world, has a little cold so we've slowed things down quite a bit.  Maybe he won't be such a bear tomorrow morning.  (One could only HOPE.)  He was so crabby this morning, that I put him back to bed at nine am.  He totally knew it was coming, too.  He wouldn't stop whining/crying/whining/crying/whining/crying, so I figured he needed a little more sleep.  And, he sure did!  I actually fell asleep, too, which was a REAL TREAT!  I have been running a lot more than usual, and this morning I did a longish run so I was ready for some down time as well.  I never take naps with Michael, so it felt great to lay down with him and hold his

 hand as we drifted off to sleep.  

We have noticed something new with Michael, that I must write down so I don't forget...

He is now "reading" (aka: memorizing!!)  a few books.  Brown Bear is his favorite right now.  It truly is a great book for memorization and associating words with pictures.  Josh and I smile with great pride when he "reads", it is such a precious site....Michael sitting in a corner of his playroom "reading" his favorite books.  Love it!!  I'll be even happier if this reading thing carries over to middle school and high school....We've got a ways to go, or so it seems, until then...

After a failed afternoon nap attempt, I took Michael swimming!! We had so much fun.  He went under twice with a little help, and did not cry one bit.   He worked a little bit on kicking while prone floating, with my help... of course!  And, he just seemed very happy to be splashing around in the water, reaching for his diving sticks.  On our way home, he said to me, "I tired, Mom.  I tired."  He was also starving when we got home, which was awesome because he had a wonderful dinner.

It was time.

Snow days are some the most coveted days of the year for me, they're like right up there with our annual trip to the beach. However, after two days of being cooped up with a very talkative and demanding (!) two and a half year old, it was time to leave the house. It was time to get out of the house and integrate him with society. In hopes that maybe the social interaction with others would subdue him, just a teensy bit. When I heard that the local middle school wrestling tournament was still on for Saturday morning, I announced to Michael that we would be going to watch Uncle James coach his team.

After my morning run with the girls, I quickly got ready for the wrestling tournament and whisked Michael B out the door. When we walked into the crowded gym, full of noise and commotion, he turned into a quiet (but very curious) two year old. Instantly, I began to yell for my brother's wrestlers, and also my students (they're in the same league). Michael sat quietly and timidly in my lap listening to me yell things like, "TAKE HIM DOWN! SHORT TIME! LIFT THE CHIN! GET YOUR BASE!" He wasn't really sure what to make of this side of his mama. It was a little strange for him, but totally fun for me! (I love, love, love the intensity of wrestling. LOVE IT.) Prior to leaving, Michael began to yell, too. He liked the team with the black uniforms, and would yell, "COME ON! GET UP! BLACK!"

Unfortunately, while we were watching the matches we saw a dislocated shoulder and a back/neck injury. So, wrestling has since been ruled out by Michael's mother and turned her thoughts back to basketball. However, after watching a high school basketball game last evening, I'm not real sure that I'm up for my baby boy playing the type of basketball that we saw. You know, shoving while going up for a layup and the elbows to the face; it was a little over the top for me, too. It's a good thing he's only two, I'm going to need some time to toughen up.

The basketball game last night? That was a date night for Josh and me! We went out to dinner with friends before the game, and then headed over to the game with the group. It was a blast. Just my kind of fun. This little winter vacation has been fabulous. Check out www.runhappy.blogspot ~~ there's an update!

Cat-Like.

My brother, Clay, was referred to as the cat of the family because he hated the water. He could last in a pool for about ten minutes and would then sun himself on the hot concrete beside the pool. Daniel, James and I were on the swim team and couldn't get enough of the water. We were the fish of the family, if you will.

The tables have turned, however. I think I may have morphed from a fish to a cat.

This evening I decided that Michael needed some GOOD exercise. So, I took him swimming. We worked on collecting various pieces of his Halloween costume, had the healthiest dinner we could at Chick - Fil - A, and then went for a swim. (Dinner, by the way? What a nightmare. He wouldn't eat the grilled chicken sandwich with wheat bread, spilled his milk all over the table and on the floor, and THEN dumped his fruit on the floor as well. So fun!)

Swimming, surprisingly, went really well. Initially, we were both frozen, but Michael managed to defrost. ( I didn't...) He was quite content with swimming around and touching the numbers on the wall and playing with the lane lines. We also did a lot of singing, which helped.

I truly do love to swim, but I get chilled to my bone when the water isn't 80 degrees and the temperature isn't over 90. It's so annoying. But, I'll go ahead and bare with the coldness just so that Michael learns to love the water and so that he can experience the best exercise in the world.

The sacrifices we mother's make, I tell you....