Week Three- On Pause

I've been on workout hiatus since Wednesday due to the fires that just won't quit and weather in the 100's.

Big Baby Laughs

This afternoon I was playing with Natalie by dabbing all the spit-uppy goo off of her mouth and then dabbing all over her forehead and nose and under her chin just for fun. Suddenly she burst out in the cutest big belly baby laugh I've ever heard. So I did it again. And she laughed some more. And again. And again. And again. I couldn't stop. It was so cute and so funny to see her laughing so much.

The other thing I really love is when she's nursing and all of a sudden something occurs to her as being funny and she'll stop her suckle and "heh heh!" laugh, and then resume. It cracks me up! Or even when she doesn't laugh but just stops nursing to smile this big wide smile and then she'll start up again.

Ok more things I love :) I really love baby legs. It is like having my own personal stress ball. Squish squish squish squish. I think I could squish baby legs all day. I also enjoy holding and squishing her baby feet.

Alright one more thing. She has the cutest fuzzy wuzzy hair that I like to nuzzle with my cheek and then I sniff the top of her head. She has the most wonderful sweet baby smell and I can't get enough of it. This is why people always talk about eating babies because they smell so good and are so squishy you just want to grab them and take a nibble.

Having a little baby in the house again is so wonderful.

Week Two Complete

Under normal circumstances yesterday would've been the day that I'd quit. Why? I was very tired from the day so I had no motivation to get out there. Under normal circumstances Jason would've gotten home, we would all plop in our seats for dinner and then we'd be hustling the kids upstairs for baths or downstairs doing dinner dishes.

But Jason called me from the road and told me he was coming home and to get suited up. So even though I was really tired, I did.

When I got out there I decided to do the week 1 intervals, but after the five minute warm up I changed my mind and decided to just try the extra thirty seconds. After my first 90 second interval I didn't feel so bad. After my two minute walk period I figured I'd go for another 90 second interval. It surprised me, but I actually started to feel less tired and I felt some of the stress of the day coming off of me. I ended up doing my normal week two workout.

I had a horrendous day at home today with lots and lots of crying in this house. Natalie was crying so much today I almost called the doctor. Adam had to sit in time out probably eight times for either whacking his sister or tantrums. He even started to throw a tantrum in the check out line at the store and I made him sit on the floor near a gumball machine. Frannie wasn't so bad or anything but my goodness how can one child have so many juice and drink requests? And cup specifications? It's like a waitress taking orders for this that and the other all day long. By 3:00 I was doing a countdown to when Jason would be home from work.

So even though this isn't my day to go running, I got Jason on the line and asked if I could go today anyways. Just because I needed to get out of the house. This time I wanted to run and it felt really good. And it did the trick to work some of that stress off of me.

Now week two is done and it's time to start week three. Here are the intervals:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following:
Jog 90 seconds
Walk 90 seconds
Jog 3 minutes
Walk 3 minutes

If this Couch to 5K program has taught me anything it is that I really am out of shape. As embarrassing as this is to admit, I have some sore muscles. True, the first half of my jog is uphill so maybe that's part of it.

Jason introduced me to a neat program called Map My Run where you can figure out the distance of your exercise path. My original path was 1.88 miles but we figured out a small detour to add a bit of distance to make it 2 miles even. And when I'm ready to add distance I can go back to this program and find a new route. It's really neat :)

Some Pics and some Milestones

*Adam has finally ditched his bottle for a regular cup.

*Adam is doing an awesome job with potty training with the help of lots of naked time and M&M rewards. It is tricky transistioning from being potty trained at home to being potty trained in public, so I think it will be awhile for that. Public toilets kind of scare him. They're high and loud.

*Natalie learned how to roll over yesterday. I'm completely shocked because I don't remember Frannie being able to do this until she was closer to 4 months old and Adam was probably in his third month. This chicky is still in her second month. It's crazy. I guess all of that tummy time is working for her.

*Thank goodness Natalie will finally take a bottle. Tonight was the first time she would drink from one after two weeks of us trying. This is a big relief to me since I start a new series next week. This article helped a lot.

*Frannie has learned to read a little bit. I was working with her a lot before the baby was born, but I just don't have the time really right now. So I'm hoping to start back with teaching her. I bought these I See Sam books and they've been great. She's about half-way through the books. It's getting a little challenging with increased sight-words. And since we aren't practicing as much I'm sure she's forgotten some things. I'm also trying to teach her how to clean her room. I've learned that it doesn't work to say "Frannie, go clean your room!" because she really doesn't know HOW to clean it. So I'm sitting in there with her every morning and we go through it step by step. First is making the bed. Then we stand at the door and look for things that are on the floor. I've simplified the kids' room a lot to make it easier for her. Adam helps a little bit too, but mostly in a copycat way. He tries!

*Adam still has temperamental ways but he's getting better. And I'm getting better at dealing with them. I pretty much just make him sit on the bottom stair step the moment he shows his angry attitude. If I wait and allow him to be angry then it will develop into a full blown tantrum, but if I nip it in the bud right away then he changes his attitude much faster and says "Sowee". Because his first reaction to almost everything that doesn't go his exact way is to get angry it means that he gets sent to that stair step a LOT. But it is a quick consequence that doesn't make me angry and ruin my day in the process of disciplining him. He is really a very sweet scrumptious boy and now that this part is going better, I'm able to enjoy his sweet-boy ways much more. :)









The pics that look like pencil drawings are the result of Jason playing around with PhotoShop.

Beginning Week 2

Week 1 workouts are done. Now I'm on to week 2.

Last week: 5 mins warm up
60 secs jog
90 secs walk
for 20 mins.

This week: 5 mins warm up
90 secs jog
60 secs walk
for 20 mins.

I feel good. I'm glad to be doing something. I think my posture is better.

[Edit: Well apparently I don't read well. I'm supposed to be doing 90 secs of jogging with 2 minutes of walking for 20 mins. I did it the other way today and it was fine, so I'm thinking I'll just keep up with the way I did it today.]

Daddy in a Dress

Fran presented this picture to me and I asked her who it was. "Daddy in a dress!" was her answer.
Why did you put Daddy in a dress?
"I don't know. Just bein' silly."

In other Frannie news she has informed me that God has a big slide and he slides all the babies down into their mommy's tummy. But that not all the babies get a mommy. Sometimes they have to wait for one.

Hmmm...

Couch to 5K Q and A

The Couch to 5K really is a neat program so it's pretty cool that there are a few of us who may do this "together".

Therese said: This is exactly what I have been looking for!! Thanks Jamie! What days will you be running and will you be running in the morning? Land or treadmill?
I totally want to do this with you! Well, from afar!

Yes, Therese, join! Join! I talked with Jason and we figured out that I can go exercise as soon as he gets home from work on Mondays and Wednesdays and my third day will be Sundays. The workouts are about 30 mins. I plan on jogging outside in my neighborhood as long as the weather is good. If it is raining or something I can always use the treadmill in the garage, but I really prefer to be outside.

As far as morning exercise, I DO like exercising in the morning however I just don't have the willpower to wake up before the kids. I know that if I structured things around morning workouts that I'd only last a week.

Lauren said: wanna do it. 5Ks are my kind of race. the last time i did it was when h was just a baby.

i'm gonna try and locate my 6 year old running shoes!

Very cool! I've never done any races before so this is a totally new thing for me.

Here are some upcoming events that look like fun-
Family Fun Run in San Dimas
Turkey Trot at Bonelli Park

Shannon said: Can't wait to hear how it goes ... and wowee - your first race is even a week earlier than mine! You're my hero! ;>

(Just finished W2D2 workout today ... so far, so good!)

P.S. If you have an iPod, there are FREE podcasts designed specifically for this program. Then you don't have to worry about keeping track of the intervals - the music cues you! podrunner.com is one, but there are others if you google it. Oh, and there's a Couch to 5K group on FB, too! :)

Hero, ha ha! Since I won't be all the way through the program when the first event comes up, I'm thinking that I might just do whatever workout I'm scheduled to do for that day. I'm looking forward to these new experiences though!

Thanks for the iPod and FB tip. That's really great. I'm asking for an iPod for Christmas. Believe it or not I'm still sporting a WalkMan. It's ridiculous. So I need to get with technology and figure out how to download songs and stuff. I'll get there!

Jason surprised me with a cool gift today. It is a Sportline Fitness watch that has a stop-watch feature so I can keep track of my running intervals. And it's purple too :)

Iris said: I saw the schedule, very briefly. So are you working on the schedule at your own pace? Or are you in a group?

I'm doing this on my own but I'm going to follow their workout recommendations. It says that if you get to a certain week and it starts getting hard, to just keep at that level for as long as you need to. I plan on doing that if I need it.

Sonja said: Obviously, I'm drunker than I thought, but I want to do this with you. Maybe we can do our workouts separately during the week and then together on Saturday?

LOL :) No you aren't drunk, just random remember? I'm going to do the weekend run on Sunday because I switched my class day from Sunday to Saturday afternoons. Last Sunday I went at 8:30 am. Let me know what you think.

Couch to 5K

Friend and fellow blogger Shannon has inspired me to do this Couch to 5K program.

It is appealing to me because the workouts seem very manageable and something that I can bring into my life without taking so much time away from the family. I don't have to join a gym or buy any special equipment. I also like the idea of running in city sponsored 5K events just to have that goal and a reason to keep exercising beyond just personal fitness.

From the website: "Too many people have been turned off of running simply by trying to start off too fast. Their bodies rebel, and they wind up miserable, wondering why anyone would possibly want to do this to themselves.

You should ease into your running program gradually. In fact, the beginners' program we outline here is less of a running regimen than a walking and jogging program. The idea is to transform you from couch potato to runner, getting you running three miles (or 5K) on a regular basis in just two months."

From couch potato to runner...I like that.

I'll keep posting about my progress.

Article- Mothers Beware! Resist the princess!

(This hits my funny bone being that at one time I did think I would be able to "resist the princesses". But alas I am too weak in the face of my daughter's devotion. I have been able to keep the flood at bay by keeping her room decor princess-free, but the damage has already been done I'm sure. har har.)

From the Los Angeles Times
Resist the princesses
Watch that little darling -- corporate Fantasyland has matricide in mind.
Rosa Brooks

March 27, 2008

Mothers of America, Disney wants to destroy you.

You hoped your little girl's Disney princess obsession was harmless, didn't
you? You chuckled over the picture of Sleeping Beauty on your toddler's
pull-ups, and you told yourself it was "just a phase" when your 5-year-old
insisted that she needed at least 63 Disney princess dress-up costumes.

But don't be fooled by the sparkly magic wands, the pint-sized tiaras and
those cute little "animal friends." The Disney princesses aren't sweet and
innocent. They're a gang of vicious hoodlums, and they're plotting against
you.

Start with some light feminist analysis. It will not have escaped you,
Mothers of America, that Disney princesses -- Snow White, Cinderella,
Sleeping Beauty and the rest -- rarely slay dragons, play sports, pilot jets
or do open-heart surgery. Instead, they fiddle with their coiffures, linger
over invitations to the ball, flee ineffectually from evil crones and swoon.


You don't have to be Gloria Steinem to realize that these are not, for the
most part, useful professional skills in today's world. So I was not
thrilled when my 3-year-old informed me, over lunch, that she wants to be "a
pwincess" when she grows up, and I was unhappier still when her 6-year-old
sister expressed a similar ambition.

"Girls," I said, "you can do anything when you grow up! You can be
scientists or ski instructors or hedge fund managers -- I beg you, be hedge
fund managers. Why would you want to be passive, anorexic princesses?"

They looked at me as if I had gone mad. "Because princesses wear pretty
dresses, Mama," they explained.

I tried another tack. "Not all princesses prance around in ball gowns," I
remarked, and showed them some educational photos of Britain's 57-year-old
Princess Anne, clad in hideously sensible tweeds. The girls denied that Anne
was a "real" princess.

I tried again. "Girls," I said gently, "I don't want to shock you, but
historically, princesses have not always been popular. Consider the Russian
Revolution. Or the French. Does the word 'guillotine' ring a bell?"

"You are a commoner!" my 3-year-old shrieked, and adjusting their glittering
tiaras, the little darlings ran off to watch "Disney Princess Enchanted
Tales" for the 10-billionth time while I glumly cleaned the kitchen.

It was not always thus.

Sure, fairy tales have been around for centuries, little girls have always
liked pretty dresses, and even most of the Disney princesses should, if
there were justice in the world, be using Botox by now. (Disney's Snow White
was a teen in the 1937 film, which would put her well into her 80s). But
once upon a time, the Disney princesses lived their separate lives, waiting
innocuously for their princes to come. You could buy a "Cinderella" book or
a "Little Mermaid" doll, but, when you did so, you were establishing an
allegiance to a particular character's story, not to an abstract "Princess
concept." The princesses lived separately and were marketed separately.

As Peggy Orenstein documented in a 2006 New York Times Magazine article,
that changed in 2000, when Disney decided that, henceforth, the princesses
would collude. They went from princesses to "Princess" -- as Disney execs
call the fast-growing product line marketed collectively under just that
logo. Merged into a sort of uber-princess, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine and the
older members of the gang formed a vast global conspiracy to turn a bunch of
aging animated films into cold, hard cash -- faster than Cinderella's fairy
godmother could turn a pumpkin into a coach.

Like an Al Qaeda sleeper cell, the princesses were activated -- and once
activated, they would quickly dominate the world. In 2001, sales at Disney
consumer products were a lethargic $300 million. By 2007, Disney's
"Princess" franchise was raking in $4 billion. And who could stand in its
way? With the "Princess" brand on baby bottles, sneakers, pencils, candy,
T-shirts, everything, you and your little darlings don't stand a chance,
Mothers of America. Your little girls will be brainwashed -- and you -- you
... .

Ah, yes. What happens to you?

You didn't think Disney was going to stand idly by while you engaged in
those little feminist critiques, did you now? Pause for a moment to consider
the fate of the princesses' mommies in those Disney movies. "Cinderella" and
"Snow White"? Mothers killed off by mysterious illnesses. "Beauty and the
Beast," "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin"? Mothers all missing; presumed
dead.

Disney really has it in for mommies: Even when you leave princess-land, it's
the same pattern. Bambi's mom? Shot dead by a hunter. Nemo's mom? Eaten by a
barracuda. Of all the major princesses, only Sleeping Beauty (a.k.a. Aurora;
like all criminals, she often goes by an alias) has a nuclear family, not
that it does her any good. But given Disney's track record, I wouldn't want
to underwrite her mother's life insurance policy.

And hey, ever notice how, in group photos, the Disney princesses never, ever
meet each other's eyes? Why won't they look at each other? Why do they still
pretend they don't know each other? Is something troubling their
consciences?

Mothers of America, watch your backs.