New Years Resolutions

When I was younger I would come up with resolutions.  Then I got older & realized I don't really stick to them very well.  But I'm going to try again.  Maybe if I don't set too many resolutions or set them too high I won't fail!

1.  I want to run a 5k under 30 minutes.  There's a race in February I'll be doing but I don't know if I'll meet my goal that soon.  If not, there will be other races.

2.  I will try to blog more often.  Shaylin is growing everyday & I know that the older she gets there will be cute & funny stories to share. 

3.  We are determined to be debt-free by the end of 2011.  There will be sacrifices but in the end it will be worth it.

That's all I've got.  Three resolutions should be easy to keep, right?

What are your resolutions, if any?

Shaylin's First Christmas

We decided to spend the night with Jeremy's parents on Christmas Eve & then ended up staying the next night as well (which helped since I had gotten sick with a cold & needed the extra help with Shaylin).

For Christmas Eve we did appetizers like meatballs, chips & dip, & veggie trays.  There was plenty of food for 4 adults (nothing that Shaylin could eat) so we were eating it the next day, too.

We also exchanged stockings.  As usual stocking were over-flowing.  Shaylin seemed to enjoy pulling stuff out of her stocking.

Then Jeremy & I did our pajama exchange.  We've been doing this for 8 Christmas' now.  This way we have new pajamas to wear Christmas morning.  But now we got to add our daughter to the mix.  This is something we've been looking forward to for a long time.  Should the Lord give us more children it'll be fun to possibly match the kiddos.

I don't know how other families do presents but we unwrap presents one person at a time.  That way you get to see what the other people get & see their reaction.  It makes the process last longer but what's the rush?!  If we can have a Christmas in the future with Jeremy's entire family together it will probably take half the day with 8 adults & 7 (or more!) kids.

Shaylin didn't understand how to unwrap her gifts but she enjoyed playing with them.  And the boxes of course.  I'm sure next year she'll be much more into it.

Later we had breakfast which was pancakes & bacon.  Shaylin ate almost an entire pancake!  No syrup though.  The girl doesn't need the sugar.

Other than that we had a late lunch/early dinner of ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, & rolls.  And then we just hung out & watched Christmas movies like A Christmas Story & Home Alone.

A cold for Christmas

It looks like Shaylin is getting her first cold & she's getting it for Christmas. 

Yester we noticed her sneezing more than usual.  By the evening I could hear her getting stuffed up with gunk.  I put the humidifier on in her room last night.  It didn't help as far as sleep goes.  From the time she went to bed (8:45) to midnight I don't think she slept a solid hour.  Most of the time she'd just cry out & go back to sleep.  So by the time I went to bed (12:15) I turned the monitor off.  I figure if she's just going to cry out like that I may as well get as much undisturbed sleep as I can.

But at some point in the middle of the night she woke up & wouldn't settle down.  I know she was just feeling awful.  So I scooped her up & went to the guest room.  I thought it best to go there since there wouldn't be a ceiling fan blowing down on her & Jeremy could still have a chance to rest.  Snuggling with her momma seemed to help settle her down & let her rest.  But the momma doesn't get much sleep.  I know I did sleep a tiny bit because I remember a couple short dreams.  But I certainly don't feel rested.

Since Jeremy was going to be home today I had wanted to do an outside run.  But now with my lack of sleep & the fact that it's really cold & raining outside, I don't see any run going on today.  Besides, I'm a momma before I'm a runner & my baby needs me.

11 Months Old

The fact that Shaylin is now 11 months old means, to me, that she's only 1 month away from turning 1 year old.  But I won't focus on that right now.

- Shaylin has stood for about 2 seconds without holding onto anything. 

- She's cruising even more.  She'll do circles around the coffee table.

- She's clearly said "mama" & "da" & occasionally says "bye-bye".

- Her wave is the cutest ever!

- I finally found a food she doesn't like: real oatmeal.  I thought I'd try switching her to real oatmeal since I eat it a lot & I could just make a little bit larger batch.  It was the first time to see her actually push food away.  I even tried mixing strawberry jelly in it to give it a sweeter flavor without using brown sugar.  No go.

- I've let Shaylin have a taste of cow's milk.  Weaning starts when she turns 1 so I'll be replacing nursing sessions with milk in a sippy cup.  I wanted to at least let her try it out & be sure she doesn't have a reaction to it.  So far, so good.

- Shaylin loves kids!  She gets so excited when she sees the kids at church.  She'll be able to spend time with some of her cousins next week & I'm excited to see how she'll interact with them.

Thanksgiving

I never posted how our Thanksgiving trip went.  Shaylin is napping at the moment but since I never know how long her naps will be, I'll try not to make this too long.

 This was our first time to fly with a baby so we were nervous.  It didn't help that we had to connect in Atlanta both ways.  But Shaylin was a model baby.  As we were taking off I nursed her to help with any ear pressure.  And then she promptly went to sleep.  When she was awake she was sweet & making the flight attendants laugh & just fall in love with her.  We were very proud parents.

We spent a few nights with my brother, sister-in-law, & niece.  It was fun seeing our daughters together.  The last time they were together was in March but they were too young to know who they were with.  This time they didn't quite play together but they were still very cute together.  I love that Shaylin has a girl cousin so close in age.

We also spent a couple days at "the coast" as I grew up calling it where my grandmothers live.  This was Shaylin's first time to meet her great-grandmothers, Me-ma & Nanny.  Actually, Shaylin met a lot of new people the entire trip but she never showed any stranger anxiety at all & was just a sweetheart.

While out there we were able to do family pictures with my family.  The last time we'd had them done was 6 years ago, long before babies were in the picture (literally, ha!).

Overall, it was a good trip & Shaylin made traveling with a baby a great experience.

Blackeye Pea Soup

How have I not posted this recipe?!  This is one of our favorite meals & I made it for dinner tonight.  Warms you right up on a cold evening.  Makes a lot, too.

1 lb. dried blackeye peas
1 lb. sausage (I use kilbasa sausage), sliced
1 cup carrots, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups chicken broth
1/2 t Italian seasoning
1/2 t salt
1 t pepper
Tabasco sauce (to add at the end to taste)

Soak peas overnight.  Drain in the morning & dump in crockpot.
Chop veggies & add in crockpot.  Add sliced sausage.  Pour in chicken broth.  Add garlic, Italian seasoning, salt & pepper.
Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 6 hours.
Before serving, scoop out 1 cup of peas (it's ok if a little carrot & celery come, too).  Blend in blender & add back with soup.  This will help thicken the broth & look creamier.
Add tabasco sauce to individual bowls.

I've also made this with shrimp in it but they were so tiny by the time it was done that you wouldn't know there was shrimp in there.  I'd like to try again with larger shrimp & maybe some chicken, too.

An Etiquette Lesson - Repost

Over 2 years ago I wrote a blog post on my old blog about what to say & not to say to someone who's gone through a miscarriage.  I thought I'd repost that today. 

You can read that post here. 

Here's something else to consider.  If someone is going through a difficulty, don't ask if there's something you can do.  Just do something.  Most people can't come up with something on the spot or they don't want to ask for anything feeling they'd be putting them out.  Maybe mow their grass or bring over dinner.  Offer to drive their kids to school.  Those are just some ideas but the point is to just take care of them.  My associate pastor often quotes a verse (which I fail to know the reference at the moment) but in one translation it reads "Outdo one another in kindness".  What a great verse to live by!

Working Moms

Well, my time as a working mom is almost over.  My last day was originally supposed to be this Friday but to help give my mother-in-law (and myself!) some much needed shopping time I changed it to this Wednesday.  I can't wait!  I love morning time with Shaylin.  She's in the best mood then & I hate that I've been missing it.  But at the same time I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to pull in some much needed cash.  It helped us to afford plane tickets to my family for Thanksgiving & has made Christmas shopping a little easier.

So what have I learned from this experience? 

It's hard.  Really, really hard.

I applaud all you working moms out there, especially the full-time working moms.  Every morning I rush around the house, giving myself only 1 hour to get up, do my makeup & hair, pack my lunch, pack Shaylin's bag, & nurse Shaylin.  When I drop Shaylin off with my mother-in-law I just block out that I'll be away from her for 5 hours.  She gets to play with her Nana & Nana gets to spend a lot of quality time with one of her grandchildren.  Shaylin is her first grandchild that's in town so time with her is very special. 

We usually get home by 1:45 which is when Shaylin is ready for an afternoon nap.  She tends to fall asleep in the car which recharges her so I let her stay up a little longer & play.  I feel like that gives me some time to "reconnect" with her.  Then it's nap time, which lately hasn't lasted very long.  That's hard on me because that's been my only chance to run or do any cleaning or laundry.  So my running has definitely slacked in the last 6 weeks.  You moms that manage to train for marathons while working are especially impressive to me.  You should get a medal just for that.

Most of all I've learned that I don't miss working.  I've been working in an insurance office & have written some policies but none of them gave me the joy I get with Shaylin.  I know there are many moms out there that work simply because they have to if they want to pay bills or buy groceries.  It's just the way things are now for many families.  And I can't fault them for that.  We could have been in that position, too, and I'm so thankful that God provided a way out for us.  I'm also so thankful for my husband who works extra hard to keep me at home.  But again, I'm thankful God provided way for him to do that.

So for you working moms out there, I pray that God gives you strength to get through each day.

10 Months Old

I'm a little behind on this post since Shaylin turned 10 months while we were on vacation.  But I don't want this "birthday" to go without mentioning.

Shaylin continually amazes me at how fast she's growing up.  Everyday I see less of a baby & more of a kid.  She's got such a cute & funny personality & is just a sweetheart.

Here are some milestones:

-She's starting "cruising" across things like the coffee table.  I hear that's just before their actual first steps.  Oh my!

- Sleep has been though but we're starting to get a breakthrough.

- She waves bye-bye now, waving her whole arm to do it.  Completely melts my heart when she waves bye-bye when I leave for work (which I have 7 work days left by the way!).

- She's apparently been able to clap for a while but I didn't know that's what she's doing when she's waving both arms.  But while watching Wheel of Fortune one night I clapped & said "yeah" & she started "clapping".  Her hands don't hit together but I'm sure she'll get there.

- She jibber-jabbers A LOT!  And blows raspberries even more!

- She has teeth!  Two actually.  It's the 2 bottom ones but they aren't completely through yet.  As far as I can tell that's all for the moment but she doesn't exactly enjoy me prying her mouth open to take a look at her gums.

December - How it's changed for me

December 2006 - We decided to start trying to have a baby.

December 2007 - Baby #1 was due but had been lost in May.  It was a difficult month.

December 2008 - Baby #3 was due but had been lost in April.  It was even more difficult than the year before.

December 2009 - Shaylin was on her way & my belly was getting huge.  It was a month of hope & excitement for what was to come.

December 2010 - Shaylin is here & I am so excited to celebrate Christmas with her.

I'm still around

I've been wanting to blog about different things.  Even started 2 posts that I have yet to finish.  I just haven't had the time.  Working 22 1/2 hours a week isn't a lot but it has definitely made my life busier.  So at some point I'll try to catch up.

But for now I'm getting ready for our vacation to NC to spend Thanksgiving with my family.  It'll be Shaylin's first plane ride & her first time to meet a lot of relatives.  I used to think it was stressful packing for a long trip when it was just me & Jeremy.  Adding a baby is a whole 'nother ball game!

Java Roast

Tonight I tried another roast recipe in the crockpot.  Yes, I know I said I probably wouldn't make a meal like this while working but I've been dying to try this one.  So instead of cooking on low like I usually do I cooked it on high.

1 rump roast (3-4 lbs.)
1 onion (I used half; it's all I had), sliced in big chunks
1 red bell pepper, sliced in big chunks
8 oz. sliced mushrooms (I didn't have any so I didn't use them)
3/4 cup brewed coffee
1 T Worcestershire sauce
3 T red wine vinegar
1 t garlic powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
4 oz. cream cheese (to add later)

Put veggies in first, then top with roast. 
Add coffee, followed by Worcestershire sauce & red wine vinegar.  Sprinkle seasonings on top.
Cover & cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.
Carefully remove roast.  Slice cream cheese & stir.  Turn heat up to high to help melt & break it up.  Serve over meat.

Oh my goodness!  This was so yummy & moist.  And if you didn't put in the coffee yourself you'd never know it was in there.  I will definitely make this again, except next time I want to cook it on low.  I've cooked things both on high & low & low always seems to prevent over-cooking.

Sweet Mustard Roast

I haven't posted any recipes in a while.  So here's what I'm making today.

1 roast (3-4 lbs.)
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup dijon mustard
2 T white vinegar
1 t garlic powder


Place roast in crock pot.  Top w/ remaining ingredients.  Flip roast a few times till well coated.  Cover & cook on low for 6-8 hours.

I've made this before & loved it.  I gave a hint of a sweet taste to the meat.  Best of all it's so easy to put together.  Gotta love that!

I'm making it with mashed potatoes & green bean casserole.  Since I may not want to cook too many meals that are time consuming while I'm working I thought I should do it today.

Working Momma

I adore being a stay at home mom.  It's all I ever wanted to do.  A career meant nothing to me.  And I had a great job before Shaylin was born.  For over 7 years I worked in an insurance office & pretty much ran the office without the title of agent.  Or the paycheck.  But when I left the week before Shaylin was born I wasn't sad & had no intention of ever going back to the workplace ever again. 

Well, never say never.

A couple weeks ago my former boss emailed me asking if I'd be willing to come in part-time to fill in while his main support staff is out of the country.  It would be for 7 weeks.  So I talked to my mother-in-law to see if she'd be willing to watch Shaylin in the mornings & she agreed.  I would have started today but my mother-in-law is on her way back from visiting some of her other grandkids so I will start tomorrow.

What also helps is we will be going to NC for Thanksgiving so it takes out a whole week right in the middle of this commitment so I really will only work a total of 6 weeks.  My hours will be 8:30 to 1:00 so with that & driving time it'll have me away from Shaylin for about 5 hours a day.

So far I'm ok.  I haven't cried . . . yet.  I haven't had guilt . . . yet.  But I know it's going to come.  What helps me is knowing that it's not for very long & we could definitely use the extra money with our NC trip coming up & Christmas right after.

Another positive I thought of is that it will help give me more empathy for other moms that work all the time.  Not that I don't feel for them.  But I don't really know how they feel on a day to day basis when they have to leave their babies behind knowing they would rather spend as much time with them as they can.  This will give me a small taste of what they go through.

I've already asked Shaylin to not do anything new while she's away from me.  She has to save it for when we come home.  I feel a greater desire to spend quality time with her today. 

So on that note . . .

9 Month Checkup

Weight - 15 lbs. 8 oz (3rd-10th percentile)
Height - 28" (50th percentile)
Head Circumference - 17 1/2" (50th percentile)

The doctor was a little concerned about her weight since this had her gaining only about 1 1/2 pounds since her 6 month checkup.  I was surprised too.  She's been gaining about a pound a month so I assumed she would have been around 17 pounds.  We discussed her eating routine & I told him how she's gone from 5 nursing sessions a day to 4 since she's eating solids 3x/day.  So he suggested we go back to 5 a day & use solids as just "extra".  So I'm going to try that.  But part of me wonders how much of it is just because she's mobile now.  Babies typically burn off baby fat when they crawl or walk & she may have burned off the little bit of fat she had on her.  I can't imagine that she's been hungry.  I'm sure she would have told me.

Other than her weight, she's perfect.  Developmentally she's on track.  She had to get one shot, Polio.  She didn't cry at all.  We also had to have her tested for lead poisoning.  Not that she's been eating paint chips.  But in the questionnaire it asked if we live in a house built before 1978 & this house was built in 1955.  So they pricked her toe & squeezed blood out.  It took a long time but Shaylin just sat in my lap & watched.  Never cried at all.  I was so proud of her.

We won't be doing any weight checks till her 1 year checkup.  If she isn't back on track with her weigh gain then we'll look into it more.  I'm not too concerned about it now though.  I'm petite so it's not surprising that my daughter would be petite, too.

9 Months Old

Shaylin is 9 months old today.  Each month that goes by I'm in disbelief about how old she is.  She's growing up so fast.  And she has recently done so many new things to show her independence & maturity.

- Shaylin's biggest milestone is crawling.  I'm amazed at how quickly she's taken off.  One day she did a little hands & knees crawling but mostly army crawl (this after barely anything more than rolling) & then in just 4 days she was 100% crawling.  She's absolutely loving the ability to move around & exploring everything.

- This past month Shaylin also started pulling herself up.  She still doesn't do it very often & hasn't done it in her crib yet but we need to lower her crib now just in case she decides to do it early in the morning.

- This seems strange but she has finally started splashing in the bathtub.  She's liked bath time for a while now but she's always been very subdued & just seems to enjoy sitting in the water, maybe chew on a couple toys.  But now she's started splashing & seems to like it.

- She's eating solids 3x a day now.  She has oatmeal for breakfast, a fruit for lunch, & a vegetable for dinner.  This now has our nursing sessions down to 4 a day, maybe 5 depending on how the day is going.  I've also started offering her table foods.  She doesn't have any teeth but she's learning to gum things.  So far she's had chicken, ground beef, ham, pasta, mashed potatoes, carrots, green beans, & bread.  I also give her these yogurt melts by Gerber as "dessert" at dinner time.  These seem to be the most helpful tool for teaching her to feed herself.  Sometimes they make it in.  Other times I find them in her lap.

- Shaylin babbles a lot but isn't saying actual words yet.  Mostly it's sounds like "ma", "ba", & "ga".  I can hear "mama" when she cries a lot.  No "dada" yet but I'm trying to get her to say it.

- Recently I took her to my in-laws & Shaylin reached out to my mother-in-law.  Totally made her Nana's day.  She also did this to Jeremy the other day when he came home.  It sure made him feel great after a long day of work.

Needing Motivation

It's been 2 weeks since I ran a marathon.  Since then I've run a total of 3 1/2 miles.  That's really lame after doing 20+ miles in one week.  Or 20 miles in one day!

Granted, the first week I was recovering & was best to not run.  I also caught a stomach bug that week & lacked the energy.

But this past week I ran 3 miles on Monday & then a measly half mile on Thursday.  I delayed that run all because of a mesquito bite on my heel.  I had the same thing happen during my training but I sucked it up & ran because I was training for a marathon.  But now that there's no marathon, I find it easier to make excuses.  This is not good.

So other than my goal of running a 5k under 30 minutes I'm going to try to find a 5k or 10k in the next month or so that I can work towards.  I may even write out a training plan just so I feel like it's something I have to do.

I just know I have to find some kind of motivation.  Burning calories so I can eat my Ben & Jerry's Cinanmon Bun ice cream with less guilt just isn't enough.

She's on the move!

Shaylin is officially crawling!

For the longest time she's done nothing more than roll over & was content to get around that way.  Then last month she started showing signs that she'd be crawling soon.  She'd get on her hands & knees & rock back & forth.  She even made a few attempts of an army crawl. 

Then on Wednesday morning she did an actual hands & knees crawl.  And everyday she's getting better & better at it.  Sometimes she resorts to the army crawl because she can get to where she's trying to go much faster that way. 

Now I have to really keep an eye on her.  She's already starting to get into things.  She wants to check out the PS3 & the surround sound box.  Keira often leaves her chew toys out & Shaylin tries to go after them.  It's only a matter of time till she gets into the dogs' water bowl.

It's gonna keep me more busy now but I don't mind.  I love having a mobile baby in the house!

Self-Induced Insomnia

Is anyone else like me?  I go to bed totally tired & ready for a good night's sleep.  Then I end up tossing & turning for an hour (sometimes longer) all because I can't turn off my mind.  And it's not even huge things that normal people stay up worrying about.  It's just random thoughts that keep popping up that transition into another random thought.  Then I look at the clock & realize I have only so many hours before I have to wake up. 

Thankfully, Shaylin is at least getting back to her old sleeping habits.  So if I'm going to be awake till 1am, at least I can sleep in & make up for it.

What's Next?

Hey Shelly!  Now that you've completed a marathon, what are you going to do next?

Well, I'm not going to Disney World.

For one thing, I'm still going to run.  Yesterday was my first run since the marathon.  I probably could have run at some point last week but a stomach flu took over our house so I didn't do much at all the whole week.  There may have been a tiny bit of lingering fatigue that made yesterday's run a little difficult.  But I wanted to finish 3 miles & I got it done.

My plan now is just to increase my pace.  I would like to be able to run a 5k (3.16 miles) under 30 minutes.  To do that I have to cut down my current pace by 2 minutes per mile!  There is a 5k I may consider doing at the end of February.  But it will depend on my pace.  Most 5k's are pretty crowded & this one is no exception.  So if I'm going to do one I want it to be worth my while.  Ok, worth my money.  But this gives me a little over 4 months to get there & considering I went from giving birth to running a marathon in 8 months, this goal is very possible.

My 1st Marathon

We left the house Friday morning at 10am & got to Odessa at 3:30. Considering we were traveling with a baby, that's great timing. Shaylin was an angel. She either entertained herself or she slept. I couldn't have asked her to do any better.

Friday night we ate at Olive Garden to "carb up". I chose just a spaghetti w/ meat sauce. I thought alfredo would be too heavy & greasy. But I made the mistake of agreeing to an appetizer that we didn't know at the time we ordered it had red pepper flakes. That didn't make my tummy feel too good that night. Or the next morning. My nerves weren't helping either.

Then there was all the water I drank that day. I think I managed to consume around 160 oz. of water. I was using the theory of drinking 16 oz. for every half hour you'll be outside. Well, that seems to really apply to warmer temperatures where you sweat a lot. So that was my first real mistake. Then of course I drank 2 more water bottles at 5am on race day. So needless to say there were a lot of bathroom trips the night before & all morning before the race.

The temperature was in the upper 50s that morning. Great running weather! The race started at 7am so the sun wasn't even up yet. I went to the back of the pack at the starting line since I knew I wasn't going to be one of the fastest. The gun went off & it seemed almost immediately most of the runners were a good bit ahead of me. But that didn't discourage me. In some ways it's kinda nice being by yourself.

Jeremy had planned to ride his bike, cutting through streets to meet me at various mile markers but without staying on the race course since that wasn't allowed. But he wasn't well conditioned for it so he got the car which managed to not be any more difficult. He first saw me between miles 4 & 5. I had only had some sips of water from the previous aid stations (they had aid stations at every mile marker) so I was ready for my bottle of gatorade. My side stitch had been trying to act up but once I started drinking the gatorade it went away & then never came back. Weirdest thing.

The half marathoners went off the full course for a short mile so eventually I had some people catch up to me again. That's when people could finally see the back of my shirt & they loved it.

Jeremy saw me again around mile 8. It was so encouraging when I could see him off from a distance. He had parked on a dirt road & was blasting "Eye of the Tiger" for everyone to hear & cheering for the other runners. That's the great thing about running. It's not about competition & winning. You cheer for everyone.

At this point I was feeling great. I soon was by myself again but I was into my music & just loving the scenery. It was just beautiful! My favorite thing about Texas is the sky. It seems so much bigger here.

At mile 10 a family was waiting for their loved one & the kids had their hands out to give high fives so I took them up on it. Simple things like that really boost a runner's confidence.

Jeremy saw me for a 3rd time at mile 11. I told him to post on Facebook that I was feeling great. I really was.

Right after mile 12 the course takes you into a stadium & you're to run around the track & exit. This is where the half marathon ended. A half is 13.1 miles. So I finally got to see the clock. But I was discouraged to see it was 2:33 which meant there was no way I was going to finish in 5 hours. I knew it was a long shot so I didn't beat myself up too badly.

Oh, before I got to mile 12 I saw the leader. So here I was almost half way done & this guy was coming to mile 21. Crazy!

I saw Jeremy again at mile 14. This was the point when it was starting to get hard & I really had to focus.

At mile 16 I finally passed someone. Two runners actually! But they were an older couple so that doesn't say much for myself I guess. But it felt great just the same. I'm not sure of their relation since they were from different cities. Maybe siblings. But she had done around 50 marathons; she'd lost count. And this was his 5th marathon. So I was totally impressed. I later learned they were around 60 years old.

Off in the distance I saw another runner & started "fishing". I then realized who he was. This man is 62 I think. He is known for running this marathon in khaki shorts & a button-down collared shirt. For you non-runners, that is not good running attire. Finally after mile 18 I passed him.

Then at mile 19 I had to make yet another porta-potty break. At the same time another girl was stopping there. She had been walking. When I came out she said she needed a running buddy so I thought I'd help. We walked & talked for a bit & then got on our way again.

Jeremy saw us at mile 20 & again at 21. That was the last he could see us due to road closures. So my buddy & I were on our own.

By now I had some tightness in my left hamstring. I was able to run but it was hurting to do so. So at each mile marker we got water, gatorade, & stretched. And then walked for a bit. It was really starting to take a long time. So after mile 23 we agreed to try to keep going till the end but if one felt the need to walk it was ok for the other to keep going. Close to mile 24 my buddy started walking so I kept going. After the turn at mile 24 I couldn't see her anymore but I knew she had started running again.

Mile 25 was exciting because I knew it was just one measly mile to go. I walked for a couple minutes during it & started back up. Then I made a left turn where a race worker was & there was the finish line. I couldn't believe it! That was pretty much where the .2 came in. It felt so long. I was trying so hard to not lose it emotionally & just keep putting one foot in front of the other. I could see my little crowd of cheerers. Even better was when I could see Jeremy holding Shaylin & waving her arm in the air.

I crossed the finish line with a time of 5:55:39. That's about 25 minutes longer than I had expected. But for my first race it's not terrible.

Once I got my medal & walked to Jeremy I lost it. I felt ok to hold Shaylin & I just held her & cried. I know she doesn't understand right now but I hope that someday she will be proud of me & that she will even want to become a runner like her momma.

This is it!

Tomorrow is the big day. The day I've got 16+ weeks of hard work towards.

I should still be asleep but I woke up at 6:30 & couldn't go back to sleep. Our plan though is to let Shaylin sleep till she wakes up (which, listening to the baby monitor, sounds like it could be sooner than we planned). Then she'll eat breakfast while Jeremy loads the car & then we'll go. That's the plan though. But anyone with a baby knows plans get changed. So we'll see.

The marathon is in west Texas so we've got about a 5 hour drive ahead of us. Ideally one wouldn't do a drive the day before a marathon but it's not that long compared to past roadtrips we've taken.

Am I nervous? A little.

Am I excited? Very!

My ipod is loaded up with just barely under 5 hours of music. That should get me just about to the finish line. Music really helps me get going so I'm looking forward to listening to it.

I'll try to post the results as soon as I can. But that will all depend on how I feel when it's over.

A True Survivor

I just watched a video of Gianna Jessen who survived her own abortion.

Yeah, you read that right.

Part 1 is here & part 2 is here.

I love how she gives God all the glory for being alive. Such an amazing testament of God's sovereignty!

I'm doubtful this will ever come true being the world we live in today but I have a dream that someday abortions will become illegal. Like Gianna said, don't tell me about a woman's right of anything when a baby doesn't even get the right to live.

I still look at the ultrasound pictures I have of Shaylin & treasure them. We saw a tiny heart beat at only 7 weeks along & then at 10 weeks we saw her little legs kick. That was no tissue. That was Shaylin!

Abortion sickens me. Plain & simple. I don't care the reason for one being performed. I lost 6 babies. Six. Six babies that didn't get a chance to live but nothing any human could do anything about. I don't know why but it was God's sovereign plan to take my babies.

So when I couldn't stop my 6 babies from dying, how do you think it makes me feel to hear of someone willingly letting their baby die?

Abortion is murder. And those who believe that need to be more bold in saying that.

Cool T-shirts

I was searching on cafepress.com today for marathon-related t-shirts. Here are some of my favorites:

I'm sure once I reach these mile markers I'll understand this one.

My favorite line is the one about my personal best because running isn't a sport about winning. My only competition is myself.

This just made me laugh. You might have to be a runner to get it.

It's so true!





And this one answers everybody's questions!

8 Months Old

- Although she isn't having a checkup this month, I would guess that Shaylin is about 16 lbs. now. She's been consistently gaining 1 lb. a month for quite a while now.

- She's still able to fit into most of her 3-6 months clothes. Pajamas are the one thing she needs to be in 6-9 months because of length.

- Still not crawling but over the past few days she's been making an sloppy attempt at an army crawl. But any toy of hers won't do. It has to be something she isn't normally allowed to have, like my camera or the PS3 controller. The more expensive the greater the effort she makes!

- Still not pulling up either as far as to a standing position. She can do it when she's holding my hands. But anything else she only goes to her knees or to a squating position.

- Lately she's been doing this laugh that sounds almost like a cough & it's pretty much just to get someone's attention. I think she's mimicking an adult's laugh.

- She's very ticklish - under her arms, her sides, her neck, her thighs, her feet. It's so fun!

- Still no teeth. But I love those toothless grins!

- Her hair is starting to thicken more so she may get thick hair like her momma. Some days it looks very blonde & other days a darker blonde. But sadly we no longer see a reddish tent. But she's still beautiful.

Progress

"I would do anything for love" by Meatloaf is on my ipod. At 11 min. & 53 sec. it's the longest song on my ipod.

When I would run to it 2 years ago the song would finish before I would finish a mile.

Now I'm finishing a mile before the song is over.

It's a strange way to measure progress but it works for me.

Fried Cube Steak & Potatoes Au Gratin

This was an awesome meal! And it's thanks to the Pioneer Woman. I've done a couple of her recipes already & liked them. This was just a good comfort food kind of dinner.

And I'm going to be lazy & just post the links to those recipes. Hey! I've got a baby that's starting to move around more. I don't have the time I used to.

Fried Cube Steak

I'm pretty sure this is something my mom used to make when I was growing up but I completely forgot about it. It was so easy to do!

Potatoes Au Gratin

My only issues with this one was that they had to cook twice as long as she said to. Maybe I cut the potatoes too thick. Or I'm just going to blame our really old oven. We're not convinced it heats to what it's set at & if we can just have some free time we'll switch it out with a new one.

About the title

Ok, I realize I put a plural in the title of my new blog. And that I have one child.

No, I don't really count my dogs as my children.

We just have hope that we will be blessed with more children.

Ok, that's all.

"Those" Nights

When you hear a mother say, "we had one of those nights", you know what they're talking about. Lots of crying (and not always just from the baby) & very little sleep.

We've been having them again . . . sorta.

Once we got over that 4 month sleep regression, it was smooth sailing. We had even been getting 11 hour stretches. It was wonderful! I could sleep in till 8, make my breakfast & enjoy some quiet time before Shaylin would wake up.

But for the past month or so she's been waking at night. But not every night. She might wake up one night at 2am & then we'll have 3 or 4 nights where she sleeps for 9 hours straight. Other nights it's 11pm. Last night it was 5:15am. She's not consistent.

Some nights I've nursed her, which she takes but it seems to be more for comfort than food.

Some nights I can run in there real quick, give her the pacifier, & she'll go right back to sleep.

But then there are the nights where nothing settles her. So I try the cry-it-out method. I'll wait 5 minutes, go check on her, & leave. Then it's 7 minutes. Then 10. Then 15. You would think at some point she'd pass out from exhaustion but she keeps on screaming.

After about an hour of her screaming I give up & rock her to sleep. She settles right down but then I can only lay her down when she's completely asleep.

So now I've had some nights when she starts screaming like that where I go ahead & pick her up & rock her. I know they say to not give in because babies need to learn to soothe themselves. But if all she's going to do is scream, why wait an hour & lose more sleep when I can do the same thing in 5 minutes & get back to sleep?

The bigger question for me is why she keeps waking up like this? I know she's not hungry. She is teething so that's not helping. I've been giving her Tylenol or Motrin before she goes to bed, like last night, but she still woke up. But again, it's not every night.

I guess it could always be the 8 month sleep regression that she hit early.

Whatever it is, I hope it passes soon.

3rd time's a charm!

I've done it again. Started another blog. I just wasn't crazy about the title & web address of the last one. So I've been trying to come up with a new one. Even though I'm called "Toad" by only a few people name, it's a name that's special to me. And what else would Toad have but tadpoles!

So there you go! I'm not very good at making up my mind but hopefully this one will actually stick.