The Winter of our Discontent (Lincoln Park Conservatory)

On Saturday, we headed to Lincoln Park Conservatory.  It was freezing, we were looking for something to do indoors, and their Christmas Train exhibit was still going.  This trip was a huge success for us.  I dropped Allan and Henry off at the door and lucked into a great parking spot less than a block away.  We were able to take off our coats and just feel good!

It was lush, green and warm inside!  

Not a shabby exhibit.  The trains were slow, but we did not mind.

Mom, this is AWESOME!

Mom, you may as well sit down, we are going to be here for awhile!

For me, Lincoln Park Conservatory has several points over its more famous cousins.....  It is not as big or extensive as Garfield Park Conservatory (which is amazing), but it was closer for us and an easier drive in the snow.  The trains were not as amazing as those at the Chicago Botanic Gardens (where we are members), but it was closer and FREE!  It was also not as busy, which made it easier for us to relax while our crazy 2 year old ran around like a crazy child.

We left and headed out to an early dinner, passing William Shakespeare in Lincoln Park.  He looked cold, we were cold, Henry wanted none of this picture.

Back to Blogging?

After a whopping two posts in 2013, one of my new year's resolutions is to blog (at least) once a week.  I like that there is a record of what is happening, much more fun to look at than my google calendar.

For the (my) record, here are my other New Year's Resolutions.

1.  I will no longer complain about being tired. This is my life, I make the choices that cause it to be this way.  Your words create the environment in which you live.  I actually started this in December, while I am still working on my internal monologue of "I'm tired, I'm exhausted", they won't escape my lips.

2.  Blog once a week.  I want to try to do some sort of "Toddler Tuesdays" posts of things Henry and I are up to and Favorite Things Fridays - reminding myself of things I love.  I figure out I can make it up as I go.

3.  See a nutritionist at least once.  I am working on writing down what I am eating before my first appointment.

4.  Fitness/Weight - really, keep going, maybe lose some lbs via diet changes.  My working out is good, I feel healthy, my weight is virtually unchanged from this time last year.  Sure I weight more than I would like, I but I also want to be content with who I am.

Anyone still out there?  Any suggestions?

Sometimes, it is easier to let things play out....

When I was expecting Henry, I was terrified that River would be a problem.  He is a bit of a skittish, high strung dog who is VERY attached to me.   When we brought Henry home, River was honestly terrified.  This of course terrified me since I know that terrified dogs are more likely to snap.  River would not only not stay in the same room, but would leave the floor Henry was on (I think he slept two floors down by the front door for at least a week after we came home).  The good news is that River never seemed to mind crying and is not all that sensitive to noise (baby, storms, TV, etc.)

I never pushed the issue, did not make River come close to Henry (although rewarded him for doing so), kept his crate and his dog bed as his safe places.  This lasted for at least 8 months until Henry got really mobile.  As with most kids and dogs, Henry LOVES River and wants to be on his bed and in the dog crate (preferably with him).  While I don't have ANY pictures of Henry sitting on River or them cuddled up together, River has become more and more accepting and protective on Henry.  Yesterday, Henry actually unlatched the dog crate, opened it and crawled inside with River.

Henry was sick on Tuesday.  I was doing laundry and peeked in on Henry during naptime to see.....

One year, 6 weeks late:)

It is amazing how fast a year flies by.  I feel blessed and happy when I have a chance to stop and breathe.   This last weekend we had a combo birthday party for Allan and Henry.  Below is a picture from Henry's "real" birthday.  How can you not love that face?:)

PT, Chiropractor and 15k

At some point in the last month, I seemed to have clicked in on diet and exercise.  I am down 5lbs from the last time I looked and am making better choices overall.  Since he Henry was born, my left hip has been wonky, it hurts, gets "stuck" and generally makes me miserable.  Six months ago, I asked my OB for a PT referral - and let it sit.

Allan finally got really sick of watching me limp around and told me if I did not make a PT appointment, he would make one for me.  My first appointment was tonight.  The PT thinks I need a hip x-ray and that something is wrong in there (either arthritis or a piece of cartilage).  Ugh.  She also mentioned a cortisone shot - is she crazy?  Has she been watching the news?  ACK!

In the meantime, I started seeing a chiropractor in my office building.  I've always been a little leery of chiropractors, but she is very gentle (no "cracking adjustments").  It seems to be a combination of PT and massage (painful massage).  The best part is the physotape she puts on me.  It is like a new adventure every week!  The first one was a patch  on my left hip, Allan told me it looked like it was covering my plug for recharging.   If only it was so easy!

Finally, I signed up for a 15k in the middle of this.  I ran 5 miles on Sunday and Monday, 3 last night.

So do I keep running or stop until I get the x-ray to figure out my hip?  I don't know why I ask, I am going to keep running till a Dr. gives me a real reason not to.....

I am spinning tomorrow - come hell or high water.

I have also realized I need to stay off the scale and do what I know is right.  When I saw the "good" number on the scale, I promptly had two food filled days.  No more scale, back to eating when I am hungry and making good choices.

Henry - 10 Months

Things keep rolling along here.  Henry and I had our 9 month appointment.  He was 90th percentile for head circumference, 95% for weight (25lbs) and 99% for height.  He is wearing 18-24 month clothes.  He can fit into 12 month clothes but they are all to short!  I am doubtful we will make it much past a year in the rear facing carseat.

Henry is crawling!  He is better on the carpet, but is getting faster and more mobile daily.  He really prefers to stand.  I find him up on his knees a lot now.  We are crashing a lot more, which leads to lots of bumps and bruises.

Teeth!  We are up to SEVEN.  Three on top, four on bottom.  He gets a little fussy on days he is teething, but nothing that bad.  He still constantly has his hands in his mouth, so I am sure more are coming.

Sleep: Henry continues to go down at about 6:30pm and sleep till about 7:30am.  He is still getting up in the middle of the night about once a week to eat.  The dog and Allan wake me up more than Henry does.

Tricks:  WAVING!  Henry just started to wave yesterday.  So cute, makes me teary.  He loves songs, bouncing, being thrown around, peek a boo.  He LOVES the dog and says "hi" to him in the morning. He is ALWAYS looking for the dog (and laughing).  Henry LOVES the swings at the park and stroller rides. If he is fussy, we head out - I am shuddering at the thought of a cold winter.

Henry now HATES the exersaucer (which he used to love).  He also hates his highchair - but calms down once I put out some puffs or goldfish.  He is eating everything.  Still prefers most things pureed.

Our trip for the month was to NOVA/DC to see my sister and catch up with friends.  Henry is getting harder to deal with on the plane.  On this flight, he squirmed nonstop, barfed on me, fussed, and then fell asleep as we were landing (literally).  To say I was thrilled to be off the plane is an understatement.  Allan, Henry and I do NOT fit in two airplane seats comfortably.

9 months! Henry

Sleeping:
Henry is sleeping about 12 hours a night.  We recently moved his bedtime up to 6:30pm since he seemed tired.  He goes down easily and sleeps anywhere from 12-13 hours.   We are bouncing between one and two naps a day.  Last night he went down at 7ish and slept till 8:30am.  Allan said he was up when he left at 7:00am but he did not start crying till 8:30 so I left him alone.    He gets up to eat in the middle of the night one or two times a night.  No big deal.  He either takes one or two naps a day to equal  2-3 hours.

Eating:
We are moving towards solids.  Henry loves baby yogurt, puffs, cheese, chicken, fruit, veggies, pancakes, waffles, etc.  No problems.  I am trying to get him to use the sippy cup for water at meals, but he normally just chews on it.  Today he grabbed the spoon and kept using it as a chew toy.   Four teeth!

Talking:
Lots of reduplicated babbling with /t/, /s/, /d/, /b/, and /g/.  He will repeat sounds.  He loves finger play soungs, will lift his hands up for me to pick him up.  Loves peek a boo!  Of course, as long as he is social, I don't really care about anything else:)

Play/Movement:
Henry wants to stand ALL THE TIME, but needs help.  He even goes stiff as a board when I try to put him down.  He wants to be held and bounced all the time. No crawling yet but he is slithering, rolling and army crawling everywhere.  We have baby gates up.  He loves the jumparoo and the exersaucer.

I realized that I missed blogging and was not sure how to start again....so I just decided to do it!

Workouts: 5/28-6/3/2012

Workouts: I had a great week working out. We were up in Michigan for the Memorial Day holiday and got back to town late Monday night.

Sunday: Allan and I hiked around Rush lake (2ish hours). Auntie N was nice enough to watch Henry (apparently he slept almost the entire time we were out. I was able to see where Allan's Dad proposed to his Mom. It is MUCH easier to hike without an infant *duh*. No HRM or numbers

Monday: River trail hike (about an hour). No HRM or numbers. 

Tuesday: no workout - DOR

Wednesday: Group Groove - kicked my butt. We had a sub and he did some old stuff. 55 min 428 calories

Thursday: Group Grove was replaced with a crappy "hip hop" class 48 minutes, 298 calories. I walked on the track afterwards with a friend for 40 minutes but did not turn on my HRM

Friday: Spinning - old stuff which kicked my butt. I also got there 10 minutes early to get a full hour in on the bike. What a difference! 104 minutes, 522 calories

Saturday: Running for 30 minutes, then run/walk for 20 minutes. Trying to finish zone 2 on my HRM program. I am waaayy over for zones 1 and 3 already. 52 minutes, 439 calories

Sunday: Running: 27 minutes, 2.3 miles, 222 calories (I put the foot pod back on my shoe!. I also walked to and from the park to run as well as to brunch (another 1.8 miles). I'm proud of this run. I woke up feeling a little creaky but wanted to finish my FT60 HRM program and I needed more minutes in zone 2. Did it! My numbers for the week: Time: 4 hrs, 11 minutes (this does not include the hiking in Michigan or my 40 minutes on the track on Thurs.) Calories: 1913

Memorial Day in Michigan, 2012

We headed up to the UP for Memorial Day again this year. The weather was beautiful and we made it up and back with minimal traffic and stopping both way. Henry was a champ.

Allan and River took care of unloading critical supplies....

We worked on getting Henry used to the hiking backpack with some success....he still likes the bjorn better, but there is only so long you can walk with a 20lb baby on your chest.

This cool moth was laying eggs on the screen door while we were there. Unlike last year, the bugs were not all that bad.

Still working on getting a good picture of Henry and I.

Henry - 5 1/2 months

I can't believe Henry is 5 1/2 months! He is super social and a very happy baby. I feel like I am being suckered into a second baby, because I could TOTALLY handle two kids like him!:)

I love that I have this happy human. Of course my goal is to keep him happy and on a good schedule! He is currently sleeping about 11 hours a night and taking three naps. Usually two of the naps are short (30-45 minutes) and the third is longer 1-2 hours.

His new trick of the week is grabbing his feet and sucking on his toes (if his socks are off). He is rolling from side to side, but not over yet. I'm also seeing lots of fine motor development. He is holding toys and transferring them from hand to hand. He is sitting, but only with support. The jumparoo is his FAVORITE thing.

We are working on introducing solids, but it is going slowly. We have tried rice cereal, carrots and peas. He will eat a bite or two and then start spitting food out. His favorite thing is to suck on apple slices. I figure it will come.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE

Scottsdale, March 23-26

Grand Canyon - March 21, 2012

Allan and I arrived at Grand Canyon at about 8:00pm. The sun was down so we ate some of our snacks and went to bed. I had booked us in the Yavapai Lodge which was 1/2 mile from the rim of the canyon. It was worth it to be in the park and within walking distance to the rim, but the room was very bare bones and not the cleanest. Pretty much what I expected after reading reviews on line.

We slept well and headed out fairly early to walk the "trail of time" and have breakfast/lunch in the resturant. We had a slight marital meltdown on the way to the rim but managed to get back on track and in there in one piece (and still married). As much as I have travelled, I have never been to the Grand Canyon. It was beautiful. Honestly, you need to see it to believe it.

We walked along the rim with the stroller to the Bright Angel Lodge where we had breakfast. We both ate well since we were getting ready for our hike. I was sad that we could not stay at Bright Angel or El Tovar - but was happy to be in the Grand Canyon with my boys!:) After lunch we headed back to the room and pack up before our check out time. We (I) had decided to hike the South Kaibab Trail because someone had told me it was prettier than the Bright Angel Trail. We had also seen the Bright Angel trailhead, and it was pretty much solid ice. I hoped that the Kaibab trail was less icy.

Yes, the first part of the trail was solid ice.....it was slow going (it was much icier than this picture shows). I had Henry in the bjorn for the trip down so I was super slow and careful on the ice. I wish we had brought our yak-trax! After we got out of the icy parts, it was MUDDY! The good news was that there were no mules and there was not dust.

We hiked down to ooh-aah point where we had lunch and took a break. At that point, Allan took over Henry in the bjorn and we started hiking out of the canyon!

The hike out was just as beautiful. It was shocking how fast the mud was drying. It was actually easier going back up since the mud was almost gone and the ice was melting. (I was also 16lbs lighter). At the top of the trail and on our way out of the park, I was so sad. I wanted to stay and hike more. Allan and I both agreed that we want to go back again and spend more time in the park.

Sedona - March 20, 2012

We woke up on Tuesday morning to SUN! No more snow with fast melting snow as well. That was the good news...the bad news was that my Pink Jeep Tour for 10:00 was cancelled because it was going to be too icy/muddy. I had booked myself on the 10:00am tour and Allan on the noon tour. Luckily, I was able to rebook on the 2:00pm tour. Multiple people had told me that Pink Jeep Tours are a Sedona "must".

We headed back to Red Rock State Park for another hike since we had the pass from the night before. After consulting with the friendly rangers, we decided to hike the Eagle Nest trail. This trail was 1.9 miles and we figured we could easily hike it in 2 hours (which would then give us time to get back into town for Allan's tour).

The hike was beautiful. Henry seemed to like being in the Bjorn again, but fussed after an hour till we stopped and fed him a bottle. He fussed some more afterwards but we kept walking. He finally passed out and we realized back at the center, he had a major poop. I felt bad that we had not checked (we did when he ate).

We headed back into town so Allan could take is Pink Jeep Tour (Broken Arrow). I wandered around town for an hour and then found a nice sunny place to sit and enjoy a coffee for an hour. Sedona is beautiful, but the town is pretty much your standard tourist trap town with tee shirt shops, vortex shops, and LOTS of stairs (not easy to navigate around with a stroller).

Finally it was MY turn for the Pink Jeep Tour. It was fabulous and I would highly recommend it! I was placed with a really fun family that was celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary. I had already met some of the women in the bathroom, while I was changing Henry. Wear sunblock and your seatbelt though.....


I was hungry after the tour but Allan had had some bad food experiences while he was walking around town with Henry so we set off for the Grand Canyon! There was a Dairy Queen stop along the way outside of Sedona......

Sedona, March 19, 2012 (Part II)

We headed back to Sedona after our fabulous lunch at 15.Quince. The weather was clearing as he got back to Sedona and we decided to head to Red Rock State Park. We had tried to go on Sunday, but it was closed (I think for weather and time). We arrived at 4:00pm and decided to go in even though it closed at 5:00pm. The nice ranger gave us a pass for Tuesday since it was so close to the end of the day.
We set off on the House of Apache Fire hike since we had less than an hour.

Allan was in charge of the map and Henry.

Henry did great on his first hike.

We headed back to the hotel after the hike and the baby and I slept from 6pm till 7am. I ate a handfull of nuts about 9pm but that was it. Allan kept telling me that I would be up in the middle of the night - HA!

Sedona/Jerome, March 19, 2012 (part I)

We woke up Monday morning and hit the hotel breakfast at 7:00am (when it opened) with all of the other parents who were desparate to get out of their hotel rooms at about 6:45am..... Sedona was still expected to receive snow all day so we decided to drive down to lower elevations and see some sights.

First was Montezuma's Castle. This is a small national park built around an amazing 20 room cliff dwelling that is about 1,000 years old. It was amazing how much better the weather was at a lower elevation and we loved being able to get out and walk around. Henry loved the Bjorn.

We then decided to drive to Jerome to walk around and eat a late lunch. Jerome was an old mining town built up on the mountainside (literally). It is now and artist/tourist town and we had fun walking around. We had lunch at 15.Quince. It was the best meal I have had this year. I had the “Las Comadres” Chile Relleno". I could rave for hours about how good this was with both red and green chile. yum, yum, yum.

Allan and I were fading out after lunch so we bailed on the state park and headed back to Sedona.

Sedona, March 18, 2012

Allan and I have been waiting (impatiently) for spring break. Typically, March in Chicago is very unpredictable, with one last snowstorm. This year, we left beautiful early spring weather in the 80's for Sedona. The plan was to hike and see the sights. Once again, Henry was a travel champ on the plane and in the car. We arrived Saturday night.....at the leading edge of a HUGE snowstorm!

Sunday, we got up and spent a little time driving around trying to see the sights. We drove up to the airport lookout and froze trying to get a picture. In this photo, the baby was in a car seat sleeping, soon to start screaming. We tried to drive around town but the roads were not good. We ended up going to a grocery story for sandwich fixings and snacks and headed back to the room.

We ventured out later that day for dinner and drove by the Chapel of the Holy Cross. It was beautiful in the snow....


After our brief detour, we had dinner at Oak Creek Brewery. The food was VERY average. If you are in Sedona, I would say to skip it..... We headed back to the hotel and rented Horrible Bosses. I was not thrilled to see the movie, but it was very funny.

Man Down!

I had a great time drinking tasty beverages out this week at Flight 1551 on Wells with these lovely ladies....


Unfortunately, after three glasses of wine, I stepped off a curb onto a slight uneven piece of pavement and went down with a twisted ankle. Bummer:( I had had a good run/walk on Wednesday with the jogging stroller (jogging stroller + baby + dog + high winds = MAJOR WORKOUT) and was looking forward to more Thursday but decided to be smart (hard for me). I had really been looking forward to going back to the gym on Thursday night (my membership came off of hold March 1) for Group Groove. BOO!

Onwards and upwards!

South Carolina, February 2012

This blog started as a travel blog. I used to write "daily email updates" when I traveled (this was before blogs) and people loved them. I always said, it is not about what happened, it is about the story you tell. It was a fun thing to find an internet cafe at the end of the day and type up what happened while drinking a tasty beverage....This blog started as a way to keep all of my travel memories in one place. Never thought I would be posting about marriage and motherhood! Times change.

I headed to Mt. Pleasant to hang with the parents this past week. I was originally invited to Soliman Bay in Mexico but decided that I was not up for taking my first trip with Henry (solo) out of the country. I also did not have enough frequent fliyer miles to get me down there ( I did not book soon enough). Luckily, I found a $200 round trip ticket on Southwest (LOVE) and $9 a day parking at MIdway. How could I turn it down? Especially since I am still on *Maternity Leave*? iroll - sometimes I wish I worked for the school district still so I could have had an actual maternity leave. oh well!

The trip was a total success! Henry was a champ. I allowed plenty of time and made sure he was hungry so he was ready to eat through take off and landing. On the way down he slept through takeoff and landing and was awake and happy the entire flight. He started fussing as soon as we turned into my parents driveway.

Coming home, he ate through takeoff and landing and napped on and off through the flight. Getting up at 4:00am was brutal (but worth it for the cheap flight.) I was also lucky that people were more than happy to help me with my luggage on the plane and Southwest made my life easy with curbside checkin. The flights were not totally full so I had an extra seat next to me both ways. It was really pretty easy! Let's hope Henry was not luring me in for the kill. Phoenix next month is looming....


I did not do much other than (try to) get a lot of sleep, do "two a day" run/walks around the 2.4 mile loop my parents live on, and hang out. My Mom and I saw The Artist and The Decendants. My Dad and I went downtown one day to drop off quilts at the quilt show and eat BBQ (yum). I also visited Belk for more "free clothes". Belk in SC is a season ahead of Chicago so I love to go and shop the clearance racks. Five tops for $50 and a pair of Born boots for $35. Woot! I need some help to hide the muffin top:(

My Mom hosted a "sip n see" for Henry to meet some of the ladies my Mom hangs out with and who have known me for years. It was great success and Henry was a champ being held by lots of strangers. He totally conked out by the end of the party though...


My parents were amazing and I did not want to come home. It was SO nice to have 24/7 help with Henry so I could go for a run, take a shower, try to sleep another hour at 5:00am (my mom is an early riser). My goal is to keep going to bed early so the midnight feedings don't kill me. Henry is sleeping for up to 7 hours at a stretch, but he goes down at 7:00pm so he is up at 3:00am! boooooo If only I could keep him up and start the 7 hours at 10!:)

Passport

Henry and I were invited to Mexico later this month back in January. After much soul searching, I decided not to go and am headed to South Carolina instead to see my parents and get some sun. I found a GREAT flight on Southwest so it was a no brainer that Henry and I head there.

Just the thought of going to Mexico had me thinking and we applied for a passport for Henry. At that point, Henry was 3 weeks old. I followed the instructions on the Department of State website and took the following photo:

It was rejected:(. They did not like the folds in the fabric (although the website said you could put them in a car seat to take the picture). Putting him on the floor and trying to have him "look at the camera with his eyes open" was NOT happening. Not enough head control.

I have since been trying to take a better photo and will head to CVS tomorrow in an attempt to get an acceptable photo. I want to use this one....

but am afraid they will not like the face (although I think it is adorable). I'm also worried about the shadow.

I also have this one:

but I am still worried about the shadow. How do I not have a shadow, looking down on him using a flash?

grrrrr


PS - I can't believe that I never posted this! They accepted my photo (the last one pictured) and Henry is ready to go! I guess it is a good think the picture was rejected, I realized that his middle name was misspelled on their records so I was able to correct that before the passport was printed.

Now we are ready to head to Prague this summer! (I wish!)

Workouts/Eating 2/6-2/12

Last Saturday (2/4) Allan and I were talking. We both felt like we needed to get "back on track" with our eating and working out. I could tell that I was slowly gaining some weight, and was really focused on my squishy belly/muffin top. While I don't feel like I am ready for Weight Watchers or anything formal, it was time to be a little more focused.

Weekly goals (starting Monday).
1. Write down everything you eat
2. Work out at least 3 times

My unofficial additional goals were to eat *real food* and only eat when hungry.

Workouts:
Tuesday 2/7 - ran/walked 2.8 miles
Wednesday 2/8 - ran/walked 2.7 miles
Saturday 2/11 - pilates ( I held my first *real* plank post baby and realized how weak I am).
Sunday 2/12 - crossfit interval class - 35 minutes to complete jello body!

It has been good to write everything down, which I did without cheating. I got on the scale Tuesday and saw that I had been gaining (I had not been on the scale in a month) so was glad that I was stopping the slide. Every morning I woke up hungry. I had a little meltdown Thursday when I saw that I had only lost .4 lbs in 2 days (I know, total eye roll). In response, I over ate and made poor choices. I am glad that I got back on track quickly.

baby steps.....