So I've Taken Up Running

I've eluded to this fact a couple times in previous posts and keep meaning to blog about it but there seems to be very little free time these days where I have two hands available to type....Anyway, so for those of you who know me well, you know that I've never been a runner. I've always HATED running. They used to call me "Tomato Face" when I played basketball in middle school because my face would get, well, tomato red from running. I found the average runner to be a bit obsessive about it all which bothered me, and I just didn't really see the point (For you runners out there, don't hate me yet. Let me finish!) But as a dietitian and a professional who values health and well-being, I always felt a little guilty about not running. I've tried to become a runner on a couple of occasions. Once in college, I decided I wanted to run a marathon. I put on my shoes, went outside, and ran for pretty much the first time ever. BAM! I hated every minute of it. Nah, running a marathon wouldn't be so great afterall. That was the end of that.

Come 2009, I guess I'm a new girl! I'm a mom now, I guess that's probably what came over me. I wanted to lose the last few pounds of baby weight and knew that I needed to step it up a notch. I was also going a bit stir crazy being inside all day and all I had was my Moby Wrap or Snap and Go stroller to carry Isla, neither of which are very condusive to exercise. I convinced Graham that a jogger stroller would be in our best interest so that I could really get out and do some hard core exercising. He ever-so-lovingly let me buy a very pricey stroller, the BOB Revolution, on an extremely tight budget (1/2 of it was paid for with gift money from Graham's amazing coworkers!) I felt guiltly about such an indulgent purchase that I cut way back on groceries and somehow shaved off $200 from our monthly spending so that that money could go toward the stroller!! How I did that, I'm not entirely sure. I made a huge effort to use 100% of every ingredient I purchased and I used up some stuff I had stored away in the freezer...

Anyway, armed with my bright orange stroller, I found a running plan online for beginners that involves intervals of walking and running to start. I am running three times a week with the intervals of running increasing as each week passes. I'll be starting week 4 next week and by golly, I'm enjoying myself! I guess I've always despised running because I've tried to go from 0 to 60 without any training and my body complained. Now that I'm easing my way into it, it's not so bad! By the end of this 9 week program, I should be able to run a 5K. I'm currently not signed up to run an organized race but I may just do that if the opportunity presents itself....

Someone Giggled!

She only laughs for a brief moment in this video, but at least we were able to capture it on tape!

Thanksgiving Weekend in Review

We spent Thanksgiving Day with my Dad's extended family. That side of the family is huge (30 people made it and that's only just over half of the gang) and I have many fond memories of holidays spent with the cousins. Usually it is one big slumber party for the entire weekend but I think we're starting to get too big for that...

As I mentioned before, Isla got to meet her only living great grandparent on my side, my Grandpa Wilson. He has pretty severe Alzheimers and so really didn't know what was going on but it still meant a lot to me for him to meet my daughter.

Isla's Thanksgiving dinner....chug, Chug, CHUG!

On Friday, my ever-thrifty husband found coupns for FREE frappes at McDonalds (kinda like a fast food version of a frappucino) so we bundled up and went for a nice walk in the Bryant neighborhood with our cool beverages. We checked every for sale sign we passed, dreaming of the day we could to afford to live in that neighborhood--when we're rich and famous of course!

Graham's brother Scotty was home from college in California for the weekend so we spent lots of time with the Croziers. He hadn't seen "The Peanut" (as she is endearingly referred to by the Crozier clan) since she was about 1 1/2 weeks old so we were all pretty excited for the two to reunite.

On Friday night, we went downtown Seattle to watch the lighting of the Christmas tree at Westlake. I'd never done this before...it was packed! I always forget that I'm claustrophobic until I'm standing in the middle of a thick crowd and can't get out. Thankfully, we brought the stroller which helped take up a little space and gave us some breathing room.

I didn't really expect her to care about the show, but Isla LOVED the fireworks! She watched the whole thing with a look of awe.

On Saturday, we went ice skating up in Shoreline which was quite fun. I can proudly say that I didn't fall down, not even once! I took it very slow and clung to other people and the wall, but at least I can say I didn't biff it!

The weekend ended on Sunday night when Isla laughed while out to Chinese food. What a wonderful close to a very fun weekend! This year, my #1 thankful is for LAUGHTER! And may there be much more of it!

14 Weeks

• Our big news this week is that Isla started laughing! We were out to dinner on Sunday night with Graham's parents and brother Scott. Scotty was holding her in a standing position on the table and Grandpa Crozier started waving his arms and dancing. First she smiled, then out of no where, started full on belly laughing. It was so adorable and I laughed so hard I cried. She laughed for 2-3 minutes at both Graham and Grandpa (and a little for Grandma) before she got tired. Oh man, that brought so much joy to my heart. Now I can stop You Tubing "laughing babies" (a favorite activity of mine) and just watch my own instead!
• Isla still has her cold. Poor girl sounds so snorty when she breathes. There must be so much gunk up there but it is taking its sweet time to drain! Thankfully, she remains chipper. However, she is NOT sleeping well at night, waking every 1 1/2 to 2 hours or so from 2 AM on. Then she wants to get up and play for an hour between 5 and 6....I'm beat!
• Isla is really into her hands this week. She loves to suck on them....(love this pic by the way--she's got her lounge leg on)

Gag on them....

And even try to fit both fists in her mouth...

• I think she's actually figured out that her hands can help get the binkie back in her mouth when it falls out. There have been frequent instances where she spits out her binkie, catches it on her arm, and then brings her arm/hand back toward her face to get it back in her mouth. It's happened a few too many times now for it to just be good luck. 
• We celebrated her first Thanksgiving at her great Uncle Bob's house (with whom she shares the same birthday) in Redmond. She got to meet her great grandpa and many great aunts, uncles and first cousins once removed (there were 30 of us in total). She was quite the hot item--I hardly saw her all day!
  

• For about 3 or 4 weeks now, Isla has been successfully napping in her crib! She sleeps for an average of about 40 minutes per nap which isn't all that long, but hey, it's sleep. She will sleep much longer if she is in her carseat or swing--what's up with that?
• This week we are working on establishing a reasonable bedtime, as well as a bedtime routine. So far we have been most unsuccessful. We did get her to go to bed and stay asleep at 9 PM one night though which is a record-we must count our blessings!
• Everyone that we see on a weekly or every other week basis has commented that "Isla really looks different this week." I've been told that her face has really "come out." I agree completely, I just can't quite put my finger on what is different other than her many bald spots.

Have a very happy week oh faithful readers!

13 Weeks

• Isla is definitely losing her hair. :o( I didn't realize how attached I was to it until now. The other day, I was feeling really down and couldn't quite figure out why. Though it seems ridiculous, I soon realized it was because I'd seen so much of Isla's hair come out with her morning bath!! It's pretty cute though--she's balding like an old man would and it looks like she has a major receding hairline.
• Isla reached for and picked up her first toy on Sunday! We were up at my parents and Graham just happened to have the video camera on, not realizing what she was about to do. She reached out and grabbed a plastic toy baby link off the table! She's also been doing lots of exploration with her tongue this week and has started putting things in her mouth.
• Isla has her first cold. :o( She woke up in the middle of the night on Sunday night super snorty and having a hard time breathing which really freaked me out. She was turning red in the face and coughing on the phlem. Of course, we were up at my parents and I didn't bring my nasal aspirator (why would I need it??). She definitely was in need of a rescue from her boogies but since it was the middle of the night, I wasn't quite sure what to do. I'm going to do a bit of a confessing here. I maybe, possibly, just might have run down to my parents kitchen and grabbed the turkey baster. Perhaps. Ok, so I did. But unfortunately, the tip was far too large for Isla's nose. Poor Graham had to make a 1:30 AM run to the store to buy a nasal aspirator. I don't think I will ever forget to pack one again! Despite Isla's gunky nose, she is still in chipper spirits.....so far.
• Isla still loves her Tweetie on her carseat. They spend a good amount of time communicating to one another.
• We are having baths almost daily now but certainly not intentionally! Sometimes I wonder if maybe there is a bit of user error with the diapers or something. Aren't they supposed to keep the poo CONTAINED? I think we may just have a super pooper on our hands.
• We took a trip up to Bellingham over the weekend to visit my family and see Uncle Josh who was home for Thanksgiving week. Isla had fun seeing the family and my parents' kitties.
• Isla visited her first casino last Wednesday. Ha! Let me explain! I met up with my mom at the Seattle Premium Outlets and we needed a place to go for lunch. Apparently the hip place up there for dining is the buffet at the casino....And in case you're wondering, no, we did not gamble. EATING was our sole purpose and we stuck to it!
• We've been trying to read to Isla as a part of her bedtime routine. She loves to look at the pictures!
• Isla has been really bonding with her Daddy this week. It is obvious that she recognizes him and she squeals with delight when he interacts with her after work. It is adorable!
• Isla went on her first jog with me last week in our new BOB stroller! I suited her up in quite the outfit....It might remind you of a scene in the movie A Christmas Story?

(Actually) Cheap Date...

....and we even went to Tiffany's!

Last night, we successfully went on an ooober cheap date, to make up for our accidental extravagant night at Rover's. We went to Il Fornaio for happy hour which is an Italian place inside Pacific Place. The great thing was that all you had to do was buy a drink and then the food was free! That's right: FREE! We'd seen some article in the Times about this place and it's free food but I half expected them to tell us "oh we're not doing that anymore" or something when we arrived. For once, it wasn't too good to be true. The food was good, especially considering the fact that it was free--we had delicious chicken pieces with blue cheese sauce, mini pizza squares, hummus and pita, puff pastry with prosciutto and craisins, multiple types of brucheta etc. We sipped our glasses of cab while we discussed Christmas traditions we hope to start for our family. And we left exceeding our $10 budget by only 30 cents!

After eating, we browsed a few stores in the mall (also free because we didn't buy anything!) Graham even took me into Tiffany's to dream about a right hand ring sometime way down the road (I think you have to be celebrating a double digit anniversary at least to get one but I'm not sure what the rule is). Anyway, he took me right out of Tiffany's when I started talking about how I thought I would need a really wide, big ring to tone down my large, long fingers. Not sure why we practically ran out of there at that point. :o)

Graham's cousin Susanna-who is attending SPU-watched Isla for free for the evening which we so appreciated. Thanks Susanna! We ended the evening running by Costco on the way home for some frozen yogurt to enjoy along with a couple of episodes of LOST. All in all, we had a grand evening for less than 15 bucks--success!

12 Weeks

• Isla is loving bathtime. She actually always has but now has started to really kick and splash with glee while lying in the kitchen sink. I think we're gonna have a water baby on our hands!
• We have a large kitchen sink but now Isla can stretch her legs and reach one side with her feet while touching the other with her head-she's so long!

• Isla loves when we hover over her while she is lying on a play blanket. The girl needs plenty of interaction! She'll lay silently on her blanket but the moment anyone comes to pay her attention, she begins chatting and cooing away. Oh and sometimes she likes to also chat with her Tweetie Bird hanging from her carseat.
• I am sad to report I have noticed some of Isla's hair coming out when I brush it. I thought we were going to get by without her losing it.

• Isla screams the loudest not when she is hungry or dirty, but when she just wants to be cuddled. There have been a couple instances this week where it almost looks like she's throwing a tantrum (uh oh) and I honestly questioned whether she'd somehow broken a bone or something. It was that loud. And that unsettling. But no. Scoop her up and cuddle her and she's back to her sweet self.
• Isla has been doing lots of exploration with her tongue lately. Last night she spent all of tummy time licking her blanket. :o)

• We've been trying to keep her up after 5 PM in hopes of getting her to tire and want to go down before 10:30 PM (which has become her norm). So far it has been most unsuccessful and she is actually waking up more in the middle of the night.
• Isla is such a sweet baby. And really is quite easygoing all around. She attended the Bringing Baby Home seminar with us at church this weekend and did GREAT. How many babies can remain quiet and chipper from 9 AM to 4:30 PM?

• Isla experienced her first Christmas lights this week. Two years ago, I strung white lights around our canopy bed and for some reason never took them down. The other morning, I brought Isla to Graham (who was still in bed) for a cuddle. He decided to plug in the lights and the two of them just laid there, watching the lights. Isla just couldn't get enough. I can't wait until we get a Christmas tree--that will provide hours of entertainment!