lately...

1. We're gearing up for Molly's 1st birthday.  I cannot believe it's almost that time.  She's beautiful and happy and everything I love.

2. I signed up for a 1/2 marathon.  It's paid for and everything. GULP!  I've been running 4x's a week with my running partner Sarah.  I CANNOT believe that I'm doing this but I'm pretty proud of myself.  Yesterday I ran 5 miles for the first time ever and it didn't even suck that bad.  I just keep moving my feet and eventually it's over with...that's how I get through it. ha!  Andy is registered to run the marathon that same race.  He's never ran a full marathon before. I'm so excited for him.  Yesterday he ran a 1/2 marathon around town and he said it felt great.  Look at us! We're runners!

3. Colt is almost potty trained.  This makes me realllllllllly happy.  After going cold turkey on the diapers and just making him be in underwear he's catching on really well.  We have accidents still here and there but in general he goes in the potty.  I'm so proud of my little man!  He gets 1 jellybean when he goes peepee and 2 jellybeans when he goes #2.  He always reminds me 'Mom, poo potty...2 beans. 2 beans.'  Just making sure I don't jip him of those jellybeans.  I love my little boy.  He's growing up and I'm really proud of him.

4. After 4 years...we've decided, Copper's getting knocked up.  NO MORE DOGGIE PERIODS!  Andy has always wanted to breed her and so we're going for it.  I'll tell ya what though, someones gonna be crying when that last puppy get sold and that somebody is me!

5. We're healthy, happy and blessed.

i've got a lot to say

I'm playing catch up on...

• my guts.  I had my colonoscopy a few weeks ago and an ultra sound right after that.  Both came back clear and healthy lookin.  It's good I'm healthy lookin, but it's also pretty frustrating that we still had no answers.  After my colonoscopy I decided to cut wheat out of my diet just to see what would happen, I had already had blood tests showing that I did not have siliac disease but I thought what the heck, I'll give it a try.  Magically all my pain went away and it was amazing.  I did miss my toast and the occasional goldfish cracker I would snatch from Colt's lunch but I survived.  After about 2 weeks of feeling good my stomach aches came back with a vengeance. I am still staying away from wheat until I meet next Thursday with a GI doctor.  I'll probably need an upper GI.  Weee!
• my disappearing fatness.  Andy and I have about 1 week left in our weight loss competition for this month.  I'm pleased to say that I have 1 pound to go!  I'm just going to go ahead and say how much I had to loose this month to win because I honestly don't mind sharing and hopefully someone will get inspired or something...but will have lost 9lbs this month.  That's a lot of weight!  My total will be 28lbs since June.  I can feel that $100 burning a hole in my pocket as we speak.  I saw a really cute jacket at Target that has my name written all over it.  I love that I haven't even won yet I've found a way to mentally spend all my winnings.
• funny disappearing fatness timing.  Two days before our weigh in we're having a big tailgate for the ND game.  Food, Drinks and more FOOD!  The day after that is Halloween.  Candy, Chocolate and more CANDY!  Will power don't fail my now!  I've been thinking about my strategy and I might wear my retainers to stop the likeliness of food entering my mouth...on the other hand the likeliness of something calling me a dork goes up dramatically with this idea.
• andy.
• On Wednesday Andy reports to the ambulance as a paramedic.  Today was his last day on the fire truck.  I'm proud of his hard work and excited for his raise.
• Andy is also getting skinny.  His pants are ridiculously big and he needs a new belt because he no longer has enough notches to keep them up.  It looks like he has old man pleats in his camo shorts they're so big.  I would never have done well this year if it weren't for his support.  He's really awesome.
• money.  We've been patting ourselves on the back lately.  This month, with Andy's over time and our diligence to keep living on a tight budget we were able to put an extra $750 on our car payment for this month.  Again,  I'm sharing this to brag on ourselves but more importantly to encourage people to do the same.  It's possible!  Only $1,000 more and we will owe NO. ONE. ANYTHING.  Totally debt free!  We owed about $12,000 a year ago and it's almost over with.  I see myself jumping on the bed throwing dollar bills in air already.  Who knows, maybe one day we'll even go on a vacation.  Just one step closer to our life goal of being skinny and rich.  :)  I kid.
• one of my favorite times of the day.  I love when my family is all tucked away for the night and I lay my head on the pillow and start to pray.  I so enjoy reflecting on my day with God.  I thank God for pairing me with Andy.  I ask for wisdom on how to be a better mom.  I pray for my friends.  I thank God that Molly hasn't started crying even though I know she spit her paci out a few minutes ago.  The good, bad and ugly...I absolutely love my life.  I could cry just thinking about the thankfulness and love that I have for my maker.  I'm what they call a happy human.
• molly haab.
• She turned 6 months last week.   I swear she tripled in size last month.  We got to her doctor appointment this week.  I'm excited to see how big she's gotten. 
• She still isn't rolling but she's close to sitting by herself. 
• We started giving her food this week too.  She likes bananas. 
• She is still really chatty.  She's always squealing and complaining about how her socks never stay on.  She's my angel baby.  And really, she is just that.
• colt. 
• Little boy has been referred to as a 5 year old on more than a few occasions this week.  When you see my "5 year old" throwing a tantrum it's because he's 2.  He only looks 5. 
• He is starting to talk a lot more.  He finishes the last word of every sentence in his prayers [peyss] at night and says 'pounds' when I ask him how much he weighs after he stands on our bathroom scale.  He's cute.
• Today he helped me clean the house and played with Copper for hours on end.  At one point I looked up and found Copper wrapped up in all his blankies and he was laying next to her on her dog bed. 
• hunting.  I'm going hunting with Andy on Monday morning.  I've never been hunting so I thought it would be fun to join.  I'm gonna shoot the BIG BUCK.  Not really, I'll be reading my book club book that I haven't even started yet but my hope is that I'll be there with him when he shoots the big one.  I really just want to spend some time with him doing what he loves to do.  I'm going to take some noisy snacks.

Now we're all caught up and I can sleep good tonight.

5%

You might remember earlier in the summer, a few weeks after I had Molly I ran a 5k and lived to blog about it. Since then I've kept up on my workout regiment pretty well. I continued to run after the race until my knee started to hurt. I bought new shoes thinking that was the problem but my knee still hurt so I decided to take some time off running, do some other sort of cross training and try running again after it had healed up or whatever was happening to it. That was my though process, although really I had/have no clue what I'm talking about. I've never worked out this much in my life, so ya.

Kaley had been doing P90X with her hubs [because they're superstars. you can practically see their six packs when they wear tight shirts] and I knew I wasn't ready for that sort of a beafy work out. I was down for some cardio, maybe some Jillian Michaels so I started to look for alternative workouts. Kaley then told me about this other work out she'd been doing that was all cardio but it was pretty insane, hence the programs name INSANITY. Sounds like ablast, eh? She invited me to come work out one morning...I said 'sure'...since I wasn't running I had to do something.

At the beginning of summer I decided that my new motto would be, something is better than nothing. I've never been a big fan of gyms. Don't like people staring at my jiggly parts when I'm trying to get my workout on. So I was going to do other things just to simply keep moving. Kaley's house is cheap to work out at too. And sometimes she makes me coffee afterwards :)

I headed over to Kaley's one morning at 8:30a and we headed down to her basement/work out area. I kept telling her that I was going to die and she said, Don't worry, Everyone dies in this workout. All these people are ripped and they're hunched over on the floor it's so hard. I think she said that making me want to feel better when really it made me want to run to my car as fast as I could and drive far, far away.

I stayed and finished the workout. I remember half way through the warm up asking, Is this STILL the warm up? She nodded. I shed a single tear and kept moving.

Since that day a few months ago I've been driving over to Kaley's house almost every morning during the work week. We work out together and sweat our hineys off while Avalon [her little girl] laughs at us from her play pin. I would probably laugh too.

I've slowly started to add running back into the mix. I got a knee brace and it took care of the knee problem so I'm glad I figured that one out. I like to mix it up though. Running everyday would bore me but I like it as an option. I've got a 4 mile track in my neighborhood. The more I run it the less it feels like 4 miles, which I like. My mom, Andy and some of my other family are running another 5k on Thanksgiving morning so I'll do some training for that too.

Since the 5k I ran on June 5th I've lost 20 lbs. I'm pretty proud of that. I said that I wanted to try to loose 30lbs this summer but a more realistic number was probably 20. I'm loosing it slowly but I'm also enjoying life. If I want a cookie, I'll eat one. I just try to make sure I eat really well the next day and push myself during my next days workout. I'm not into depriving myself to try to loose weight. I don't do well with that and it would probably backfire.

A few nights ago I challenged Andy to a little competition of our own. Who ever could loose 5% of their body weight by Nov 1st gets $100. He likes competitions and has been wanting to loose a little more weight so that is my next goal. I'm kinda nervous just because I know how easily he can loose weight when he puts his mind to it. AND I'm still a hefty one, so 5% of my body weight, well, I won't say how many lbs that is for me, but I've got some work to do! It's a lofty goal for sure but I'm going to try hard. And really, do you know how long it's been since I've had $100 to blow?!? Years. I've already started a mental list of all I want to buy.

Andy told me tonight, You should blog about our competition. It would be good accountability for us. So here you have it. World, we're trying to loose alot of weight next month, Biggest Looser style.

Let it be written.
I think I'll go throw up dinner.

triathloner

This summer Andy decided he wanted to try out a triathlon. In August he packed up his bike and headed up to Eagle Lake. I'm pretty sure I was more nervous than him the entire time because he did great. I helped him get his bike all set up, watched his swim and then headed back home to get the babies [Don't worry...They weren't home alone by themselves. Mom was with them. I'm not that kind of mother]. Although it was a lot of running around back and forth it was nice for the kids to be there when Andy finished.

At the start of the swim I walked up and saw this gigantic orange buoy floating in the middle of the lake. I heard the announcer explain the swim course and that's when I broke out into a sweat. Wait, Can Andy swim that far?!? What the heck! I'm not sure if he can swim that far!?! Now, now...Andy would slap me for saying this because he's a good swimmer, but I guess because he hadn't ever practiced swimming across a lake before and because I'd only see him do laps in Mom and Dad's pool, I was freaking out. Sure enough, a few minutes later he was swimming back to shore. He even was smiling so I guess it wasn't that bad.

I walked up after his swim to see him transition to his bike but when I got there all I could see was him flying down the road! I was impressed by his speediness. He was passing all sorts of people too. I was proud of him.

I then ran back to the car, headed home...woke up, changed and fed my sleepy heads and we all went back and found a spot by the finish line to see him run in. Mom tagged along. She was my lifesaver. I typically don't go places where there are lots of people involved with both babies, by myself. It's just too much, especially with my firecracker Colt. I'd rather have a colonoscopy. I was glad she went with me.

I put together a quick video of some footage I got. Andy is in the middle of the pack wearing a white/red/black/onesie/speedo thingie [stayin classy] with an orange swim cap on. [I'm glad they gave him an orange swim cap because the entire week before his race I kept making fun of him for buying a clear swim cap at walmart. I won't tell you what I kept calling him, but he looked like he had a form of contraception on his head. nuff said.] The last part of the video was supposed to be Colt and Andy running towards each other for a hug, one of those slow motion type of moments but that didn't really happen.

Andy's actual time was 1:52 not, 1:57. I'm sure he'd want me to mention that.

Just last weekend Andy competed in his 2nd Triathlon. This time it was an Olympic length tri, a bit farther distance swim and bike. Watching the swim made me want to vomit. It was longer and he hadn't swam since his first triathlon a month previous. I kept looking and looking for him and finally I saw him start to swim in...but I thought for a few minutes there he was lost a sea. Whew!

He really liked both his experiences this summer and I can see more Triathlons in the future. His next big thing will be the Sunburst Marathon 2011. Now that I've shared his personal goals with the internet there is no turning back...I, on the other hand choose to commit to nothing.

I'm proud to be Andy's wife.

can your shoes do this?

I finally went to get some new shoes the other day.  I had been running and started to get some really bad knee pain so I decided it was time to bite the bullet and get new shoes.  The lady fitting me for my new running shoe couldn't believe at what I'd been wearing.  She pretty much took my shoe and twisted it like a wet noodle.  Apparently,  if your shoes can do what my shoe did in the top picture you should burn them because they're giving you no support.  In fact they're probably hurting you.  She said I was pretty much running barefoot these last two months and she was surprised I didn't get a stress fracture or something.

I got fit after waiting in line for a while and walked out of there with a $120 pair of shoes.  It honestly kinda ruined the rest of Andy and I's date night we were on.   We went to dinner and the whole time I was thinking how dumb to spend that much money on a pair of shoes is.  So the next day and asked to be fit to a pair of clearance shoes.  I felt much better about that.  Lets just face it, I'm no marathon runner and honestly any shoe felt like I was walking on white puffy clouds compared to what I was running in before.

I've since worked out in the shoes a few different times and thoroughly enjoyed myself.  I've yet to run in them.  That was supposed to happen today but I've got the energy of a two-toed sloth.  And I've kinda been feeling like crud lately.  A few bad stomach aches, no energy and a skipped period will make everyone and their mama ask if you're pregnant again.  I'm pretty sure I just feel like yuck. 

Anyhow, go check your running shoes and see if they bend like mine,  you should toss them.  If you have any other fitness questions, just ask me.  I'm a professional here.

iRun

First off, I know I said this last time.  But I miss blogging.  I just can't find a way to fit it in yet.  There are multiple times during the day when I think, this would be funny to blog about OR my kids got dedicated a few weeks ago.  It was a big deal. Blog worthy.  Didn't blog about it.  iFail.  I need to speak my blog into a tape recorder and hire someone to actually blog it for me. iBeLazy.

Once upon a time I blogged three days in a row.  I got up after Molly's 5am feeding, blogged and stayed up for the rest of the day.  Then I realized that I could sleep in instead and right now, since I haven't gotten more than 5 hours of sleep in the last two months, iSleep.  Anyhow, I'll work on it. 

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So back to iRun or iRan...or Iraq. Whatever.

A few weeks ago, lets call it 4 weeks, I decided I needed to just move.  I hadn't gone to my 6 week postpartum check up to get released by my doctor to work out but I felt great so I just decided one day I'd sign up for a race.  The Sunburst race was about 2 weeks out and I signed myself up for the 5k.  Three miles might seems like no biggie so some of your freaks out there but to me?? Marathon.

I went home, dug out my tennis shoes and tried to run a mile.  Andy went with me except he walked while I ran.  I'm that slow.  A few days later I tried to run 2 miles.  Although it sucked because I suck, I did it and ever time after it got mysteriously easier.  I ran 3 miles a few days before the race and didn't die.  I was happy about that.

My goal for the sunburst was just to finish.  People kept asking me how fast I wanted to run it in and really it was comical to me.  It's a very common question for runners, but me, ya see, I ain't a runner.  I just wanted to keep my heart from exploding and my lungs from protesting, jumping out of my body and playing dead on the side of the road. 

[Excuse this disgusting picture.  I look 5 months pregnant & I'm squinting.  It was bright.  Just wanted to post to show you all that I really did run it.  I'm not a liar.]

I ran the race in a whopping 46 minutes.  Which is 10 minutes faster than I was running it at home.  You do the math. Andy ran the 1/2 marathon and came in right at 2 hours.  He was really happy with it and I was proud of his little runner self. 

It was a good experience and I think it jump started me for this summer.  Since the race I've kept running.  I try to run every day if I can, but sometimes that's just not possible with all these little people running around calling me Mom.  I'm up to running 4 miles now and it actually feels good.  My knees are sore here and there but it's probably because I'm wearing a pair of tennis shoes I've had for 4 years.  They're all grass stained from mowing the yard. I only have one pair.  haha!  I'm a hick.  Yeehaw.  Whatever. They work for now :).

Aren't you proud of me though?  I also wanna loose 30 lbs this summer [ha!!] Hi, My names Mo and I like to set unrealistic goals for myself.  No really, since the race I've already lost 9 lbs.  That's almost 1/3 of the way there.  I'm feeling pretty good about that.  We'll see.  Just gotta keep trucking. 

Ok. Gotta get ready to give baths, run to the store and pack my kids over night bags. YES! Sniff Sniff.  They're both spending the night with my parents tonight.  Well, Colt practically lives there, he always spends the night.  But this time Molly is spending the night too!  That a big pill for me to swallow.  My gracious parents are watching my kids so I can go to a Luau, drink a pina colada & win a limbo contest.  I'm actually excited.  Maybe all the people at the Luau will want to see me run...I've got new tricks, you know.  To the tree and back, Ready? Go!