When I am out and about with my three little bundles of joy, someone always has to comment that "I must be busy!" I just laugh and say "Yup." But really, it seems kind of silly to me. I was plenty busy when I had two kids. I was even pretty busy when I just had one kid. When I first had Travis I had some older people tell me "You aren't really a parent until you have two." I'm pretty sure I shot this 9 pounder out, so I'm pretty sure I was a parent. But, whatever!
Probably the biggest thing I hear from other mothers is that they just don't have the time to get out and run or exercise, or it's just too hard because they don't have anyone to watch the kids, or really any other number of excuses you can think of. As I've said before, I'm on a running streak, so that means I try to run at least 30 minutes every day. I am pretty lucky in that I have a supportive husband who will watch the kids whenever he is not working, and I also have friends who love my kids and will watch them also. I try very hard not to over use this luxury, after all, 3 kids is 3 kids.
So here is how I try to get in my runs....
Whenever possible I push the kids in the baby jogger. I have a double jogger, so I try to do this while Travis is at school. If it doesn't work out and it's a nice day, I will throw Travis on the front of the jogger and run on a flat surface. This has only happened a couple times because it is very hard pushing 3 kids.
When the weather is frightful I will opt to go on my treadmill down in the basement. I hate it, but it is the best case scenario some days. I have mine set up right outside of the kids play area so I can keep a good eye on them. I can catch up on some tv shows that way too. By the way, watching Cougar Town while running isn't a good thing, especially when you have a prolapsed bladder. I was laughing too much!
Recently I've been enjoying some Mom-swapping. This is something that is out there that I think few mom's take advantage of. We all have other mom friends, so why not enlist them to help. My friend Shelby lives just up the road (country road that is, about 6 miles) and she has a little girl just a few months older than Eileen. It's a little unfair since I have 2 (we swap while Travis is at school) and she has one, but all three kids are good kids, so it works out well. When she comes over I go out for a run while she watches the kids, and then she goes out while I watch the kids. It's a bonus that the girls get to have a play date. We did this today and it was 20 degrees with wind whipping and snow flying, but we both went outside anyway!
To get in my track workouts I bring the kids and give them food and something to do while I trot around the track. Sometimes I have to yell and break up fights in the middle of an interval, but hey, if Britney Spears can sing while running than I can yell at my kids while running, right?
The only time that being a runner mom is hard is race time. The shuffling around and trying to find a sitter or making sure the husband is available can be as daunting as the actual race. Usually it all works out. We will see what the spring brings when I want to run more races.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Pregnancy Brain..It's other people's problem
Recently I've been speaking to some friends who are pregnant for the first time. These aren't just the normal pregnant ladies, these are formerly super fit, Olympic hopeful pregnant ladies. Imagine, if you will, being in the absolute best shape of your life, then...BAM, you're pregnant!
Great news, right? Right! That is until you start showing and gaining weight and being seen out in public. This is what I've told my friends...People lose their minds when they see a pregnant lady. They can't just stand there and say "Hi, how ya doing", oh no, they have to say something that will set you off. They will all of a sudden have diarrhea of the mouth. They can't help it. It's my theory that this phenomenon should be labeled "Pregnancy Brain".
Here are some of the comments I've heard or my friends have heard:
1. "You must be due any day." This one was said to me in April, when I was due in August.
2. "when are you due?" This one I loved. It's not bad at first, but when people start to ask you about 6 times a day, it gets a bit ridiculous. I would look at them straight faced and say "what do you mean?" and stand for a minute before I smiled. It was awesome.
3. My neighbor told me a woman asked her if she was "sittin twins". She was not.
4. My friend said a woman said she looked like her pregnant cow. She did not.
5. Being a runner while pregnant I've heard that I shouldn't run during pregnancy, even though I ran through three and I had three very large, perfectly healthy babies. In fact, when I was pregnant with my first I was in line to vote with my elderly neighbor. She introduced me to an elderly man who was a retired doctor. She told him that I was still running he said "oh, you shouldn't do that?" I said "you mean run while pregnant?" He said "no, you shouldn't run at all, ever." Jeez!
6. The men that I work with would always call me fatty. I didn't take this to heart though because they are all fat, and I just figured they were getting it in while they could because they knew I would go back to being skinny.
So, the point of my short post today is, if you are newly pregnant and you are just hearing these comments for the first time, you will have to get used to it. People are stupid, people are rude, people are insensitive. They don't even realize it most of the time. The really sad part is most of the comments come from women who have already had children of their own. You would think they would know better, but since they don't you will just have to grow a thick skin and realize that it's their problem, not yours.
Great news, right? Right! That is until you start showing and gaining weight and being seen out in public. This is what I've told my friends...People lose their minds when they see a pregnant lady. They can't just stand there and say "Hi, how ya doing", oh no, they have to say something that will set you off. They will all of a sudden have diarrhea of the mouth. They can't help it. It's my theory that this phenomenon should be labeled "Pregnancy Brain".
Here are some of the comments I've heard or my friends have heard:
1. "You must be due any day." This one was said to me in April, when I was due in August.
2. "when are you due?" This one I loved. It's not bad at first, but when people start to ask you about 6 times a day, it gets a bit ridiculous. I would look at them straight faced and say "what do you mean?" and stand for a minute before I smiled. It was awesome.
3. My neighbor told me a woman asked her if she was "sittin twins". She was not.
4. My friend said a woman said she looked like her pregnant cow. She did not.
5. Being a runner while pregnant I've heard that I shouldn't run during pregnancy, even though I ran through three and I had three very large, perfectly healthy babies. In fact, when I was pregnant with my first I was in line to vote with my elderly neighbor. She introduced me to an elderly man who was a retired doctor. She told him that I was still running he said "oh, you shouldn't do that?" I said "you mean run while pregnant?" He said "no, you shouldn't run at all, ever." Jeez!
6. The men that I work with would always call me fatty. I didn't take this to heart though because they are all fat, and I just figured they were getting it in while they could because they knew I would go back to being skinny.
So, the point of my short post today is, if you are newly pregnant and you are just hearing these comments for the first time, you will have to get used to it. People are stupid, people are rude, people are insensitive. They don't even realize it most of the time. The really sad part is most of the comments come from women who have already had children of their own. You would think they would know better, but since they don't you will just have to grow a thick skin and realize that it's their problem, not yours.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Snow Days!
Here in Preston County we tend to get a lot of snow days. In fact, last year we only had 1 or 2, and that was a very abnormal year! This year we have already had quite a few. I don't mind snow days really, but as a mom of 3 I've gotten used to a certain routine and schedule, and snow days really mess with the flow of our household.
Travis is about to turn 5, so he is the only one in school, Pre-K. Normally Don takes him to school on his way to work, and then I pick him up at 1. When we have a 2 hour delay I take him to school at about 9:30 and then I have to turn right around and pick him up at 1. There is not a lot of time to get stuff done on those days, considering it takes me a half hour just to get the babies in the car!
Today is our third snow day, thanks to those pesky Alberta clippers. I've decided that Pintrest has become my savior on these days. Why, you ask, well, lets start from the beginning....
I started Pintrest about a year ago. For about a year I had no idea what I was doing, or what it was all about. I pinned stuff from websites occasionally, but I didn't really know how it worked with the whole sharing thing, so when I figured it out, it changed my world! Now I am addicted!
One day I saw a cartoon pin that said something about "honey, you better bring home some dinner because I've been too busy pinning nutritional recipes to cook dinner." I thought, wow, that's so true. I've pinned all this stuff, but I've done nothing. So, I've decided to start actually doing some of my pins.
On Friday I made a crock pot stew recipe from Pintrest. It turned out great, and I didn't have to go to the store to get anything, I just used stuff I had in my fridge that needed to be used, like my potatoes, carrots, celery, and sweet potatoes, and of course some deer meet. This comes in really handy, because I live 4 miles from a store, and that's just the dollar store, so my options are limited.
After I was done throwing that all into my crock pot, I decided I would clean the microwave using something I saw on Pintrest. "1 c vinegar + 1 c hot water + 10 min microwave = steam clean! Totally works. No more scum, no funky smells. Easy Peasy!(need to try mine needs cleaning)". It cleaned pretty well, but it also needed a bit of scrubbing, nothing is ever really easy.
Since that went so well, I cleaned the toilets with vinegar via a Pintrest recommendation. This also went pretty well. The only problem, my house was smelling of zucchini bread and beef stew, after all that cleaning it was smelling like vinegar, but it only lingered for a couple hours.
Yesterday I decided to try a craft with the kids, since it was a snow day and I can only keep them happy with toys for so long. Again I went to Pintrest for something I had pinned months ago. I took all of our old crayons and cut them up. Pre-heat the oven to 250 F, put pieces of different colors of crayons in a mini cupcake mold (don´t forget to use paper cups or spray the mold with vegetable oil). Place the mold in the oven and let it melt for about 10 minutes, they melt very fast. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely before giving them to the kids. Even Eileen could help with this craft. They came out great and now we have favors for Travis' birthday party this weekend.
More Pintrest goodies next time....
I am progressing in my running finally. I'm not crossfitting very much, but as they say, the best way to get better at running is to run! I am still doing some "weights", and I've decided to do a pushup challenge that I found on...you guessed it, Pintrest! We'll see how that goes. I am focusing more on my core too. I think I've decided that the Plank is THE best possibly exercise for the core. Again, I'm still testing this theory. Tonight it is to the track for some 600 meter repeats. Hopefully my calves will hold up. And just in case you were wondering, if you are having calf issues, I highly recommend compression sleeves or socks. I have been wearing the compression sleeves. I know I need a massage big time, but who has time for that?
This blog post brought to you by Sesame Street!
Travis is about to turn 5, so he is the only one in school, Pre-K. Normally Don takes him to school on his way to work, and then I pick him up at 1. When we have a 2 hour delay I take him to school at about 9:30 and then I have to turn right around and pick him up at 1. There is not a lot of time to get stuff done on those days, considering it takes me a half hour just to get the babies in the car!
Today is our third snow day, thanks to those pesky Alberta clippers. I've decided that Pintrest has become my savior on these days. Why, you ask, well, lets start from the beginning....
I started Pintrest about a year ago. For about a year I had no idea what I was doing, or what it was all about. I pinned stuff from websites occasionally, but I didn't really know how it worked with the whole sharing thing, so when I figured it out, it changed my world! Now I am addicted!
One day I saw a cartoon pin that said something about "honey, you better bring home some dinner because I've been too busy pinning nutritional recipes to cook dinner." I thought, wow, that's so true. I've pinned all this stuff, but I've done nothing. So, I've decided to start actually doing some of my pins.
On Friday I made a crock pot stew recipe from Pintrest. It turned out great, and I didn't have to go to the store to get anything, I just used stuff I had in my fridge that needed to be used, like my potatoes, carrots, celery, and sweet potatoes, and of course some deer meet. This comes in really handy, because I live 4 miles from a store, and that's just the dollar store, so my options are limited.
After I was done throwing that all into my crock pot, I decided I would clean the microwave using something I saw on Pintrest. "1 c vinegar + 1 c hot water + 10 min microwave = steam clean! Totally works. No more scum, no funky smells. Easy Peasy!(need to try mine needs cleaning)". It cleaned pretty well, but it also needed a bit of scrubbing, nothing is ever really easy.
Since that went so well, I cleaned the toilets with vinegar via a Pintrest recommendation. This also went pretty well. The only problem, my house was smelling of zucchini bread and beef stew, after all that cleaning it was smelling like vinegar, but it only lingered for a couple hours.
Yesterday I decided to try a craft with the kids, since it was a snow day and I can only keep them happy with toys for so long. Again I went to Pintrest for something I had pinned months ago. I took all of our old crayons and cut them up. Pre-heat the oven to 250 F, put pieces of different colors of crayons in a mini cupcake mold (don´t forget to use paper cups or spray the mold with vegetable oil). Place the mold in the oven and let it melt for about 10 minutes, they melt very fast. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely before giving them to the kids. Even Eileen could help with this craft. They came out great and now we have favors for Travis' birthday party this weekend.
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| The Kids Crafting |
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| our finished crayons |
I am progressing in my running finally. I'm not crossfitting very much, but as they say, the best way to get better at running is to run! I am still doing some "weights", and I've decided to do a pushup challenge that I found on...you guessed it, Pintrest! We'll see how that goes. I am focusing more on my core too. I think I've decided that the Plank is THE best possibly exercise for the core. Again, I'm still testing this theory. Tonight it is to the track for some 600 meter repeats. Hopefully my calves will hold up. And just in case you were wondering, if you are having calf issues, I highly recommend compression sleeves or socks. I have been wearing the compression sleeves. I know I need a massage big time, but who has time for that?
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| Pic of the week, Travis reliving his youth, he will be 5 on Sunday! |
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