A Few December Pictures.....

Here are a few pics from our month so far.....one of my fav workout moves, Brian and I heading out for a run, Bubba in his new jacket (thank you Auntie Kate), and some beautiful leaves we saw in service last Saturday. While I wish there were more running pictures, I will say that workouts have been going great, and running is fitting in when we have time and its not raining.....so yeah, not much to report on the running front. 15 miles a week is a good week right now! The majority of the packing is done though, and the kids are out of school for the next 2 weeks, so hopefully we will get some good runs in soon!

December 18th 4-6 ET on NBC

Secret Packing

My routine has become to drop the girls off, come home, hurry and get my workout done, then spent the rest of the morning packing as much as possible before they come home again. They are on a shortened schedule last week and this week, so once I leave to run with Brian at 11:30, I am not home again until 1:30, with all the kids.
I try to get as much out of their rooms as I can w/o making the room look too empty or changed. Plus I have been going through their clothes and sorting out what doesn't fit or what they just don't wear and making bags to give to the friends. So far they haven't noticed, although Sophie's closet took a major hit this morning, so we will see if she says anything later today.
One of the nice things about this whole stinky situation is that we have time. Time to pack slowly, secretly if need be. I want the kids to feel as uninterrupted as possible for as long as possible pre move. We spent part of the weekend cleaning out the garage, totally emptying one side so we could then move all the boxed in the living room out to the garage. We also found a dresser on Craigs List for Emma. She currently has shelving built into her closet, but will need a dresser in her new room, so we took care of that. We found her a very nice, large, old dresser with a large mirror above it, and a matching headboard and bed rails for $40!
I have so far gotten all the weird areas packed - top of closets, bottoms of closets, all decorative things off the walls, linen closet, some of the kitchen cupboards that had random things in them that we never use. The girls asked for boxes to pack up their breakable things....better to show them how to do it and let them do it themselves so that they don't blame me for any broken items! Plus, they wanted to be involved, so they each did quite a few boxes of stuff out of their rooms. I have a pile of about 20 garbage bags of stuffed animals in my living room from Bubba's room.
So we are making tons of progress! I mainly try to do all the icky parts of moving in the morning, the throwing away of old useless toys, and all those things that they never use/wear, but as soon as they see them heading towards the garbage become their "favorite" thing. Then there's the issue of digging down into the garbage can to hide it all because if they spot anything it is traumatic! Moving with kids is definitely its own art!

New Mom Memories-

No, I am not pregnant, but I have gone through the process 3 times. During one of my pregnancy's I compiled a similar list to this one and lets just say it did not go over well. That said, I meant every word of it, and would draw the same boundaries again without thinking twice! I stumbled upon this post today, it is it seriously like she took it out of my head. Love it!! If you have ever been pregnant, or had the joy of having a new baby in your house, I'm sure you will relate to a few of these - BL

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Letter to a Non-Pregnant Person Via the email rounds...

Dear Non-Pregnant Person,

I hope you find these guidelines helpful in your interactions with pregnant women, as failing to follow them may result in serious physical harm. If you are thinking, surely she doesn’t mean me – then you should probably read this twice.

1. The appropriate response to a couple telling you they are having a baby is ‘Congratulations!’ with enthusiasm. Any other response makes you a jerk.

2. Through the wonders of science, we now know that babies are made ONLY by the mother and father – not grandparents. Unless the baby is in your uterus or you are the man that helped put it there, you may not ever use the phrase ‘my baby’.

3. On the same note, unless you made the baby as defined in 2, the pregnancy, birth, and raising of the child are not about you. You do not have input. No one wants to hear your opinion unless they ask for it…

4. The body of a pregnant woman should be treated the same as any other body. You would not randomly touch someone’s stomach if they were not pregnant, nor would you inquire into the condition of their uterus, cervix, or how they plan to use their breasts. Pregnancy does not remove all traces of privacy from a woman.

5. Likewise, no woman wants to hear comments on her weight…ever. A pregnant woman does not find it flattering that you think she is about is pop, must be having twins, looks swollen or has gained weight in her face. Telling her she looks too small only makes her worry that she is somehow starving her baby. Making such comments invite her to critique your physical appearance and you may not act offended. The only acceptable comment on appearance is ‘You look fabulous!’.

6. By the time we are 20-30 years old, most of us have picked up on the fact that the summer is hot. We are hot every summer when we are not pregnant. We don’t need you to point out that we will be miserably hot before the baby comes. Nor do we need to know how badly you will feel for us because we will be pregnant during the summer and how glad you are that YOU will not be pregnant this coming summer.

7. There is a reason that tickets to Labour & Delivery are not yet sold on Ticketmaster. Childbirth is actually not a public event. It may sound crazy, but some women really do not relish the idea of their mother, MIL, or a host of other family members seeing their bare butt and genitals. Also, some people simply feel like the birth of their child is a private and emotional moment to be shared only by the parents. You weren’t invited to be there when the baby was created, you probably won’t be invited to be there when it comes out either.

8. Like everything else in life, unless you receive an invitation, you are NOT invited. This includes doctor appointments, ultrasounds, labor, delivery, the hospital, and the parent’s home. You do not decide if you will be there for the birth or if you will move in with the new parents to ‘help out’. If your assistance is desired, rest assured that you will be asked for it.

9. If you are asked to help after the birth, this means you should clean up the house, help with cooking meals, and generally stay out of the way. Holding the baby more than the parents, interfering with breastfeeding and sleeping schedules, and making a woman who is still leaking fluid from multiple locations lift a finger in housework is not helping.

10. The only people entitled to time with the baby are the parents. Whether they choose to have you at the hospital for the birth or ask for you to wait three weeks to visit, appreciate that you are being given the privilege of seeing their child. Complaining or showing disappointment only encourages the parents to include you less.

Sincerely,
All the Pregnant Women in the World

Save the Date!!

To help us move!!
Friday Jan 7th...there will be pizza and beverages : ) Its a short move, about 7 minutes away, and no stairs.
How about this...if your name shows up on my stat-counter, I will take that as your e-confirmation that you will be there! : )
No, really though, if any of you are up for it, we would love the help! We have 4 sofas and 3 large, heavy hutches, but other than that its all small stuff!

Trail Running, Hawaiian Style

XTerra Trail Run World Championship at Kualoa Ranch on Oahu this past weekend. This is a 21k/10k/5k race. Looks like one of the most beautiful trail runs ever, maybe someday! It really captures the beauty of single track, and also the ever present possibility of falling...and rolling down the hill. My personal theory is that if you didn't fall at least once, the race does not count!
Even World Champs fall and roll, as you will see. Her name is Sally Meyerhoff, and she was the first female to finish, taking the title.

November, November, a Month to Remember

As you can tell from my slow down in posts, it has been an......interesting month. There has been a lot going on, a few major shifts in our universe, some perspective changers....ever had one of those months?? One thing that Brian and I have learned over the years is that when things are going really well, its time to start sleeping with one eye open because it can't last. That's just life, right? One big roller coaster ride. Not so scary when it's just you and your spouse, but when your riding with kids, it can be terrifying at times. Sometimes the hardest part is remaining calm so that they think the roller coaster ride is "fun" and they don't notice that you are turning green.
It has been wonderful to have gotten all the info over the past year about not becoming stressed, overwhelmed, overly anxious, panicked even..when situations arise. Sometimes all you can really do is pray for the ability to remain calm and endure. Enduring in the way we have talked about over the past year, not just "getting through" a situation unhappily and becoming bitter, but doing it with a positive outlook and a willing spirit. So, we are rolling with it, and trying to stay positive. That's what this system is, right? One curve ball after another, you just have to get used to hitting them over and over again and enjoying the breaks in between pitches.
That said, it has highlighted the fact that I loath relying on other people. I hate it. I have always hated it. In school, when we would be assigned "projects" I always wanted to be grouped with the slackers who never did anything because then I could just do it all myself and know it was done right and on time. Even now, if I want something done I prefer to do it myself. Not that Brian isn't capable, he is. I just know that if I do it, it's done. Not the right outlook to have, and I am aware of that, however our 'November to Remember' could not highlight more clearly why I feel this way. All we can control at this point is how we handle the next few months, which promise to be challenging and eventful. One thing that is key right now for our entire family is maintaining our routine. Normalcy goes far with kids. Prayer, meetings, service, family study, runs, hikes, payday Friday grocery shopping night, random trips to Chevron for coffee and slurpees - staples in our day to day life that always remain consistent and carry us through from one ride to the next.
So December will be a quest for normalcy within our ability and situation, and maintaining routines. For me personally, this will mean getting back to my 4 workouts a week, and 4 -5 runs a week. Period. I am trying to view November as our 'recovery month' from a year of hard work.......as opposed to viewing it as a" total slacker" month. There were sporadic workouts and runs....if and when we felt like it....lets just say our muscles had a nice break! December, I have no visions of "hitting it hard" or "pushing limits".....just the goal of re establishing a healthy routine. 4 workouts, 4-5 runs, one rest day.I see a few long runs on the schedule as well, not for training purposes, but for meditation purposes. There's nothing like turning the body on auto pilot and having a few hours to think. Brian and I have gotten in 2 lunch time runs this week and I think those will be invaluable as well the next few months as it allows us time to talk about things that we don't talk about in front of the kids. Plus, talking about stressful situations while doing a stress relieving activity somehow does balance out!
I would expect posts to be less frequent while all this 'maintaining a normal routine' during the next few weeks is going on. But then, they are a bit therapeutic....so you never know....