One month already??

Alex is officially through his first month of life. Overall, he is a very good baby. We had some issues with milk intolerance, so we now give him soy formula as a supplement and I have cut dairy out of my diet...for the most part (I sometimes slip and eat a slice or two of pizza). Matthew just adores being a big brother and is so cute with him. Our "baby" starts preschool on September 8. I feel like he is still so small and not old enough yet, and I fully expect to be emotional when I take him to meet his teacher.

Alex is also a pretty good sleeper at night. Kevin stays up with him until about 11:00and then puts him in his bed in our room where he sleeps until about 3:00. I get up to feed him and we are back in bed around 3:45, and he sleeps until about 7:00This has made getting back to work a lot easier for me, and for him, because he has the opportunity to nurse before I go in. Last week I started back 1/2 time and Alex struggled for the first couple of days, but he got better towards the end.

Thank you to all of you who continue to be a support for us. We are so blessed to have wonderful friends and family in our lives.

Running- Week 3 Day 2

Please see Misty's blog. 'Nuff said. Happy Thursday...and if anyone knows how to make my knees feel better, please leave a comment, unless it is "stop running" because that is not an option.

Running - Week 3, day 1

My knee hurts. I am pretty sure I look like a freaking moron when I run these days because it usually takes about 10 minutes for my knee to loosen up enough to run with a normal looking stride. So, any of you out there with any suggestions...lay them on me.

Today was difficult, but I think that is just because it is Monday. However, it could be the smell of the fresh cut grass that was bugging me too. Who knows...maybe I am just making up excuses too. Today involved an equal amount of running and walking, so you would think that it would have been a little easier, but for some reason it just wasn't.

Until Wednesday...

Running- Week 2--Complete

Well, we made it through week 2. This morning started off with me noticing that my left knee is a little stiff and sore...wonder why? So, I am going to try and stretch out my knees a little better after running.

On another note, please write this down and commit it to memory...SPANDEX ARE A PRIVLEGE, NOT A RIGHT. I thought that this only applied to women until I saw a guy this morning at the track wearing shiny silver spandex...thank goodness for sunglasses! It's not that he was grossly obese or anything, it was the simple fact that men look funny in spandex and should not be allowed out of the house wearing them. I am guessing that this man is not married or his wife was sleeping as he was leaving the house because there is no way I would let Kevin out of the house in those.

Until Monday...wish us luck!

Running- Week 2 Day 2

Check...done...I did it.

Thanks to a baby who didn't feel that sleep was necessary between 3 and 6 AM on Wednesday, Misty and I had to move to Thursday. Sorry to throw off the schedule Mist.

I also got on the scale on Tuesday and guess how much I lost?! NOT ONE POUND!! I was about to pack in the running thing and go back to eating my Hagen Daas Ice Cream on the couch while complaining about how large I am (not really, but it just gives you a visual of how disappointed I am) until I decided that Rome was not built in a day, and weight loss is something that is going to take me a few weeks. I am just anxious to get to my 6 week appointment having something to show for it other than a baby :-)

So...until Saturday!

Wii Fit Invades Our House

Wii Fit is pretty cool. My sister and brother-in-law bought one that they decided they didn't want, so we bought it from them. Matthew loves it, and Kevin is using it to keep track of how much weight he is losing (he is down 1.8 pounds since last week). I haven't really gotten around to using it yet, but I know that I am doing something right because I was able to get back into a pair of pre-pregnancy pants this weekend (they were tight, but I could get them on, over my behind and even zipped without having to suck in!)

Here are some pictures of Matthew doing the ski jump...he was bummed because daddy filled up all of the "place holders" on the game, but I was pretty impressed with his skills.

My new slave...er, helper

Matthew has really surprised me. He has been great with his little brother, a huge help to us and is doing much better than I expected him to do. Case in point, today I was washing up some of the bottles, nipples and parts to my pump when Matthew came in and asked if he could help. I told him sure, got him a bottle brush and proceeded to show him how to wash the bottles. Thankfully I had the camera handy.

Washing a bottle with his bottle brush:



When he starts complaining to me about how he has to do the dishes, I am going to show him this picture:



The happy worker and his mommy at the end of dish duty:

Running - Week 2 Day 1

This morning was a little bit harder for me. Not sure if it is because it is Monday, or if it is because we had to run a little further this time with less walking. Just ask Misty, I was a little more whiny than usual! She did have to remind me that I wasn't walking long enough though!

I came home and took a 3 hour nap (thanks to my wonderful husband!). Alex slept better last night, but then the house cooled off to about 68 degrees and he wasn't content sleeping on his own anymore. I hate this house for this very reason...it gets either too hot or too cold...never just right.

Running - Day 3

I am with Misty, blogging about this keeps me honest. I'll have you all know that it is Saturday, and I was at the track this morning at 7:05 AM, ready to run. Misty commented that if it weren't for the fact that I was going to be there, she would have just bagged it this morning and slept in...I agree with her! Good thing we have each other. I did have to go out and buy some new running shoes last night, which really made my foot feel better. I also found a nursing athletic bra at Motherhood Maternity.

The highlight of the morning was the unwrapped (couldn't tell if it was used, nor do I want to know) condom that was laying on the ground as we made our way down to the track. GROSS! I can already hear that conversation:

Guy: Honey, I know that this is our first time, and I have the perfect place.
Girl: Where?
Guy: Well, you know the big grassy area by the high school track
Girl: Oh baby, that is perfect! It will be the most romantic night of my life.

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Running--Day 2

Today was our second day on the Couch to 5K program. Even though Mr. Alex decided that 3:00 was a GREAT time to wake up this morning and refused to go back to sleep, I met Misty at the track at 7:01 AM (I was running a minute late on account of I couldn't get my lazy butt off the couch). I could feel that my muscles were a little angry with me for thinking that I needed to run again today, but overall it was pretty good...and I feel better knowing that I am working towards my 20 pound challenge.

So, I have done 30 minutes of exercise twice this week and Kevin has yet to make it to the gym...hope this head start doesn't mean that I will ultimately lose. When Kevin and I did weight watchers together he would lose 5-6 pounds per week while I would be lucky to get 5-6 ounces some weeks. HOW FRUSTRATING!! I am a terrible wife in that I am not being overly enthusiastic about getting him to the gym...but I am still trying to be supportive of his goals, mainly because his snoring has gotten a lot worse in the past few months and it is even starting to wake Matthew up at night.

I will weigh in again next week, just to see if there is any progress on the scale after a week of being good.

The 20 Pound Challenge

I started running today with my good friend Misty. She had a baby a few months ago and we are both dying to get back into "pre-baby" shape. She told me about this Couch to 5K program and we started this morning...it wasn't TOO bad...but I am reminded that I am not a runner in any way, shape or form.

I stepped on the scale this morning too, just to see where I was sitting. To my surprise, I was 22 pounds lighter than I was the day I gave birth...which had me totally stoked! So, now that I am exercising 3 times a week again, I decided to challenge my husband to a little competition. 5 weeks from tomorrow we are going to weigh in again. Whoever has lost the most weight gets $150 towards something that they want. For me, it is going to be a sassy new outfit to go back to work in, for Kevin it is going to be towards a new bike.

Wish me luck...I totally want to kick his behind in this competition! :)

A day at Grandma and Grandpa's House

Kevin helped my dad build an extension on to my parents deck today, so I took the boys, went shopping with mom and then we had a family birthday dinner for Kevin.  Of course, we also had to take the time for pictures with grandma and grandpa...and I just had to share them.



Alex managed to open his eyes, which made his aunt Kristin very happy. He is doing really well. We are still working on getting the whole nursing thing down, but every day it gets a little better for us both. Matthew is a wonderful big brother and a huge help with Alex. Until next time...