A New Challenge

Since I am turning 30 this year, I decided now is a good time to challenge myself in a way that I never have before. And so, I have signed up for that half marathon that I mentioned earlier. It is May 2nd, so I have oodles of time to get my behind (literally) in shape enough to finish the race. I am not going for a speedy time here people, I just want to finish while still in the running motion. Now this may not seem like a big deal to most of you, but I am a former softball player (not much cardio...) and the only race I have ever completed was a 5K. Some of my girlfriends at work have decided to embark on this project with me, and the support has been an absolute necessity for me! I have a training plan in place and a professional trainer that I am working with twice a week for strength training purposes. And let me tell you, this trainer is going to be the end of me. Last Monday I went through my first session with her, all circuit training activities, and Tues and Wed I could barely walk. At one point I had to bend down and get Stella's pacifier under her crib, and I honestly was not sure if I would be able to get up to get it to her. And of course, Tues and Wed had 2 mile runs scheduled so those runs were some of the hardest that I have ever gone through. The good news is, the workouts are working! Every muscle is being pushed and pulled and has been in pain at one time or another so I know that whatever it is I am doing is effective! And so the journey has begun...
The nice thing about a big race is that you have to take "time" to train before taking it on. This training period allows me time to learn how to workout effectively, and it is also teaching me how to eat healthier. For a few years now I have been a pretty healthy eater, and for about 4 years I have been a vegetarian. But eating for "running" is a lot harder than it looks. Each meal must have purpose, and all of the necessary fats, proteins, whole grains, etc. A lot of thinking and preparing which can be hard with two little ones and a full time job! But I have tried to make it a family issue, and so far it is benefiting everyone. We have been off of refined sugar for a few weeks and so far everything is going pretty well. Although walking past the donuts yesterday at work was a trial in itself...but I did it! I am sure I will be blogging about this experience, and it will include joyous moments and also moments of complaining, but it will be nice to have a place to vent about the project!
My running/workout schedule is as follows:

Mon= strength training and stretching with trainer
Tues=Run (2-3 miles at this point)
Wed= Run (2-3 miles at this point)
Thurs= Run (1-2 miles or light run) Strength training with trainer
Fri= REST
Sat= Walk or bike for 30 minutes, non-impact workout!
Sun=Long run day (about 3 miles right now)

For the eating part of this, I am eating 5-6 small meals per day, with some healthy snacks like apples or kids Clif bars pre and post workouts. The meals are challenging because there is a lot of prep involved, and I teach all day so eating can be hard to incorporate. But so far so good! I am proud to say that on this date I am almost 20 lbs lighter than I was on my wedding day, and I am about 25 lbs lighter than I was in college! I am happy to say that I am more fit and healthy AFTER having two little ones than before I had them, but it does take hard work that I often do not want to put in. But it is worth it...
Which leads me to another point for today's blog. For those of you out there that are starting your healthy resolutions, GO FOR IT! You can eat better, exercise to increase your fitness and health, and be in better shape all around this year! This is your year for it:) So get your behinds off the couch and get moving....
And resist the fast food and goodies....yes, you can do it. And you will love how you feel.

Dinner Conversation

Our oldest, Gracie, is turning four next month. I can hardly believe that fact. It almost stops my heart when I think about it. How can that be? When did she learn to dress herself, and brush her teeth, and write the letter "A"? It feels as though I blink and she is different. Just today I was looking at her while she washed her little hands, and I could not help but see that she has turned into a little girl. She has become somewhat of a string bean (and those of you that know her are aware of her picky eating...) which is such a change from the little round sweet pea that she was when she was younger. She is tall for her age and almost lanky at times. Her hair grows longer each month, and she learns so many new things each day that it is impossible to count them. I am caught between loving the little girl she is becoming, and mourning the little baby she used to be. Do all mothers feel this way? I am sure they do. The joys of her new found girlhood are endless though, and I must say that they are quite adorable as well. We hear a lot of "Are you kidding me?" and "You are trying my patience" on a regular basis. She has learned to art of placing certain phrases where they belong, and of course she loves to use Mom and Dad's favorite sayings whenever she can. I could write a separate blog just about the phrases Gracie uses...
Which brings me to my blog title. Gracie has been eating at the dinner table with us since she could sit up, but only recently has she been really a part of "dinner" with mom and dad, or whomever is visiting at our table. She eats with us, and joins in the dinner conversation at random. Just the other night we had our dear friend Heather over for dinner. Now you must know that Gracie just adores Heather, and is always wanting to talk her ear off. She showed her just about every new toy or movie she got for Christmas, and had to fill her in on all of the details of her little life. Heather was beyond eager to oblige and "hung" onto Gracie's every word. Which just made Gracie glow from head to toe of course! As Heather was telling us a story, she used the word "hideous" to describe something. Gracie immediately asked, "Who's Hideous? Is he your cousin?" Of course we all giggled and then tried to explain that hideous was an adjective (I cannot help it, I am a teacher!). Keton and I find ourselves having to cover our faces frequently in order to hide our smiles and laughter when Gracie is rattling on and on. It becomes very difficult when she has been inappropriate (but down right hilarious!) and is in need of discipline, no laughter. Dad struggles with this in particular, and therefore I often end up with two "kids" to reprimand (ok, so Keton doesn't really get a reprimand, but boy does he get the stink eye!). I love that just a simple dinner conversation has become such fun and that laughter flows through our house with abandon. What would life be like without moments such as these?
Who knew that dancing around in your pjs to a Miley Cyrus song could be so fun? Or that you can build a fort in your bed with only pillows and books? When we started on the journey to parenthood, we heard many words of advice and warning. I had an idea of what it would be like to be mom to Gracie and Stella, but I truly did not realize how sore my abdomen would be from the fits of laughter that they cause me to have daily!
Too bad the laughter is not effective enough to wipe out the need for crunches and pilates...

A New Year

It is a New Year. Time for some changes around here! I have abandoned my blog in the past months, and my absence has coincided with my return to the work place in September. Not that any excuses would be good excuses, but time has just not been friendly to me lately. However, my dear husband has pointed out that blogging about our family should be a priority, particularly because he truly enjoys getting my posts! In all seriousness, one of my so called resolutions is to get back into this blog. It is a great way to share our family's news and pictures with our loved ones who are out of state and not close enough to see our little ones growing and changing. I expect all of you readers to hold me accountable!
This picture above was supposed to end up on our Christmas card, and we took it on Thanksgiving day. To most people, it is just a picture of a family ready for Christmas. But to me, it is an illustration of how life works. We had agreed as a family to get dressed up and take a picture that would end up on our card, which seems like a great idea. But when you have a three year old who does NOT want to dress up or stand still for the curling iron and a seventeen month old who is not happy to stand still for ANYTHING, getting it all together for a dressy picture can seem like a monumental task. Needless to say, we poked and prodded and primped and prepped everyone, only to have the picture turn out a little too fuzzy to be used for the card anyway. Sigh. Isn't that how life works? You can prepare and prep and be "ready" but somehow all of your preparations just fall short and life just happens in an unexpected way. But it always works out one way or another!
The beginning of a new year to me always has the feeling of a "clean slate." The kind of feeling I used to get at the start of a new semester. Clean binders, fresh paper, new pens and pencils, stiff textbooks (that I was definitely reading ALL of the way through this time, I swear!). I always felt like this was the time to improve, to get the straight A's, to start off strong and confident! Of course a few weeks into the semester I was using messy binders, had lost some pens, and the textbooks were still stiff. But my intentions were good! Well, this new year we are trying to accomplish some things that are better than "intentions." Here is a list of our resolutions (so to speak! we don't like to be too formal of course!):

-Eat healthy, wholesome, non-processed foods as much as possible (we have been working on this for a long time, and finally we are getting somewhere!)

-Eliminate "bad" sugars from our diets (we have been teaching Gracie about "good" and "bad" sugar and she is on a rampage to label all "bad" sugars; pretty cute most of the time, but it makes it hard for Daddy to sneak some candy!)

-Add daily exercise and activity to our routines (I have signed up for a half-marathon (yikes!) and have been training for a few weeks now...more to come on that as I am working towards that goal; Gracie has a new bike from Santa and is learning to ride! Keton just gives me dirty looks when I mention exercise, but we are getting there:) )

-Incorporate time with God each and everyday, including bible studies for the girls! (Could anything be more important than that?)

These are just a few things we are working on for this year, and I think it helps that we are able to work on these each day and we can make progress on a daily basis. That way nothing seems too far off, or too difficult. I am learning that it takes small steps and consistent effort to make progress. No overnight successes here! But little successes each day.

This New Years Eve we celebrated by staying home with our girls and squeezing in some quiet time for each other after they were tucked in for the night. We even stayed up until midnight, which is an accomplishment in itself for us! What better way to ring in the New Year than to spend it with the ones you love, and share a new year's kiss with your sweetheart? All while in your comfy pjs....
The start of this year could not have gone better for us, and we are looking forward to what it has to bring!
Happy New Year to you all, and may God bless you each and every day...