Young Party of Four

You ever experience one of those moments when you immediately think your choice was not the best one and you wonder why on earth you put yourself through something on purpose? Yeah. I pretty much lived my life in that state through the past week. This was Week 4 of C25K and if I thought they were serious last week, I wasn't paying attention to what was coming up (and what is continuing to sit on the horizon at this point for me.) Here is how it goes down this week... usual 5 minute brisk walk as a warm-up. Then, it all goes downhill (or based on my current route... a little uphill and a bit of downhill.) Run 3 minutes, walk 90 seconds, run 5 (freaking FIVE) minutes, walk 2.5 minutes.... repeat. But don't worry,  you get a nice cool down 5 minute walk at the end. That's the 5 minutes I spend convincing myself that this wasn't that bad and I can do it again. Then, somehow, I get excited the night before a run and seem to forget that it was so terrible. Whatever works, I g...

I admit, almost everyday I experience a moment when I stop and think, "How did we get here? Weren't these little babies just born yesterday... or maybe it was last week? Why are they growing so freaking fast?!?" That's the main reason I am thankful that we keep this blog. Yes, a picture is worth 1,000 words, but sometimes there is an even better story that goes along with it. Even if no one else ever reads a word we write, I love going back and reading over old posts and reminiscing. I though I would share a few of my recent favorite "snapshots" of our kiddos along with a bit of an update about them. So that when I go back in a few months, years, whatever... I can remember exactly who these little people were at this time. This is truly an awesome time for both kids. They are so much fun and both have such personalities. I definitely want to remember these times.... though I wouldn't be opposed to not reliving a few of the more difficult "threenag...

Well, here it is. Week 3. I've been sort of dreading this week since the beginning because it was the first time that I had to run a significant (for me) period of time without stopping. 3 minutes to be exact. The program works like this for the week: 5 minute warm-up walk, run/jog 90 seconds, walk 90 seconds, run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes, repeat then a 5 minute cool-down. It's only a total of 28 minutes this week. Still 9 minutes of running, just like last week, but it is done in a much larger chunk of time. Here is how the week went down: Week 3, Day 1: Again, I put off this day for a little bit. I was just not motivated for a few days. I also hurt my ankle some running on Monday night and found that it hurt pretty badly on Tuesday so I waited it out until Wednesday. Then, I didn't go that morning because I was just tired. It happens. As long as I do it before too long, I still feel good about getting it done. I ended up dragging my butt out of bed on Thursday mor...

Dear 18 Month Sleep Regression, I see you have decided your reservation time has arrived. Since you seem to think you need to be here for a while, I think we need to get a few things straight... I will make this list as short and sweet as possible since you probably have difficulty concentrating on it due to the lack of sleep you are causing in this house. 1. You are early. No one invited you this early. I would say you decided to check in about a month too soon. Way to not pay attention to the itinerary. 2. Your stay is not long-term. Please don't forget that. We are a house... not a motel. We don't offer free HBO and if you try to switch rooms, well, just don't. 3. If you think showing up at this point is okay because you spared us having to have your cousin, 9 Months, stay in our home just a few short months ago, you are wrong. It's not cool. Your cousin wasn't actually welcome here and neither are you. By the way, if you see your Uncle 4 Months, tell him...

This week was definitely a bit more difficult than last. Not only because the program was more difficult, but just because I was tired beyond tired most of the time. Everyone in the house has been battling some weird funk lately and I think I started it early in the week. Then, both kids ended up pretty bad over the weekend and my final day was pushed a bit. I finished though and am ready to start next week. Week 2, Day 1: Today I did NOT want to get out of bed. Yet, I did and here we are. I am definitely glad I did. Despite the fact that I do not run far or for an exceptional amount of time (9 minutes total this week), I can see where the term "runner's high" comes from. I definitely had it at the end of this workout. I also had some achy legs. For the first time since starting this, my legs actually hurt. Not my shins, but my legs themselves. I am guessing it is because of the slightly longer time of each run interval. It was 90 seconds running and 2 minutes walking a...

I've decided to embark on a new challenge. I am going to try (again) to finish the C25K program. For anyone that is unaware of this program, it is basically a training program that helps you run a 5k from starting nowhere near being a runner (hence the Couch to 5k name) in about 8 weeks. You train 3 days a week and alternate running and walking while slowly building up your running time and distance each week. In all honesty, this is not the first time I have tried this program. This is actually attempt #4, but I am hoping that I am able to stick with it this time and actually get somewhere. I have many reasons (aka excuses) for stopping before but I'm hoping that if I can document my progress to be able to go back and read where I started, then I will be a bit more motivate and hopefully follow through. I read an article in a magazine recently that said that mindful workouts are better than ones during which you try to zone out and part of being mindful can be writing down how...

Want to witness one of the most adorable thing on the planet? Attend a preschooler dance class. Seriously. It was fabulous. This past week, Kenzie attended her first ever dance class. Steven and I have talked about enrolling Kenzie in dance class for quite some time but we wanted to wait until we thought she was old enough and we thought she was ready to participate in one. We thought about it a few months ago but held off for a bit longer and finally decided to bite the bullet a couple of weeks ago. Our city actually offers dance classes through different seasons that culminate in participating in various parades in the city. We talked about that, but decided that we wanted to find a place that had a recital so that not only us, but also grandparents, could attend and see her hard work pay off. For years we have driven by a studio around the corner from us and never paid too much attention, but when we decided to try to find a class, they were the first place that came to my mi...