WO: week 3

WO week one

WO week two

I knew going into this week it would be challenging getting to the gym. Tuesday was my only gym day and I tried to make the most of it. Over 3 miles and it felt so good! I am really feeling my body change and my endurance lengthen the more I run. And the longer I run. Last Sunday, I was able to zip up a skirt I haven't worn since before I got pregnant and I was so excited! It isn't my favorite skirt, but since it fit, I had to wear it. It was still tight, but it zipped up which means my body is starting to shrink! Hooray!

I'm trying to gear up for some cold runs outside in Charlotte. My poor lungs are going to burn. Or I need to figure out doing some work out things inside. Pinterest, here I come!

Trimming the Tree

The girls and I are finally in Charlotte and wehave a whole week before the rest of the Christmas groupies show up, along with Ryan. I'm keeping it together being away from him for this long, for now. He is still working until next Friday. But we are ready to celebrate the end of the semester! Last week was a CRAZY week. I am still recovering. Since we've been here, Brinley has been so attached my parents. They both just tire each other out! Brinley has been taking great naps and crashing out pretty hard at bedtime. Christmas at home is such a magical time and I'm trying to soak it all in.

Saturday we went to this adorable Christmas tree farm. It has been years since I've been to a farm to get a Christmas tree! There were TONS of farm animals walking around. Brinley was chasing a turkey and screaming at him. Poor thing. I think we found the perfect tree! It is one of the tallest we've ever had. Next week, we are visiting Santa. Brinley keeps telling me that I've been a good girl this year and that Santa is going to get me a present. Love that girl.



Ellie: 2 Months

Miss Ellie turned 2 months old on Saturday!! That little lady is such a gem in our family. We all just oooo and ahhhh over her all day long. I was nervous thinking about loving another child as much as I love Brinley, but what they say is true: your heart doubles when you add another child. We just love her dearly.

isn't she delicious?

She is such a good baby. She nurses great. And sleeps great. I really have zero complaints about the past 2 months. I am a woman who likes a schedule, and even more so, for her babies to be on a schedule. I read something somewhere, that you need to make the decision if you want your baby to wear the pants, or if you want to wear the pants. It worked with Brinley early on and now I'm already seeing the benefits of the schedule: eat/play/sleep adapted from the book Baby Wise. It's a great book if you need one to read. It teaches babies that after we eat, we play, and then we sleep. And for Ellie, it has worked perfectly so far. She has a "I'm ready to sleep" cry and if we catch it in time, she puts herself to sleep minutes after getting swaddled. She's a peach.

We have also started a bedtime routine in the past 2 weeks and it has been great. She has pretty much put herself on a bed time of 10-10:30pm. We have plans after Christmas to bump the time up little by little. We start with bath (soap every other day), dress her in a quiet setting, I nurse her but not to sleep, and then we get her in her Halo swaddle sack and rock her to sleep. Ryan seems to have the charm with getting her down the fastest, but I don't mind that one bit. It allows me time to finish my bedtime routine so I'm in bed by the time Ellie is asleep. After nights and nights of waking up to every little grunt and peep, we have kicked Ellie out to the front room during the night. Not having a 3rd bedroom is annoying, but we are making it work. When she is consistently sleeping 8 hour stretches, we will put her in the crib in Brinley's room, but until then, she is in the dining room. Her normal sleep stretches range from 5-7 hours. She wakes up around 4 or 5am to nurse and then falls right back to sleep until 8 or 9am. Now that I'm getting 6ish hours of sleep each night, I am feeling much more energized during the day.

Ellie at 2 months:

12.2 lbs

comparison to her one month chair shot:

Doesn't Raffi (as Brinley named him) look huge in her 1 month picture? I think so!

WO: week 2

week 1 here

Whew. This week was hard to get to the gym. Ryan=finals week. Me=home all day with no break to get to the gym. Don't get me wrong, it is tough to be home all day and night without the husband (trust me...) but it is only for 10 days. I would rather have him gone then be home and stressed out and itching to get back to studying. I did my best, though! 2 days is better than zero!

Tuesday:

Ryan got home a few minutes before 5, so I jetted to the gym. I left him with a crying baby and a crazy toddler with dinner simmering on the stove. I told him to eat without me because I had a church meeting at 7. I left the gym in such a hurry that I didn't go to the bathroom beforehand so imagine (or don't) a post-partum mama only 8 weeks out, RUNNING with a full bladder. It took me a good 10 minutes to stop feeling like I was going to pee my pants with every step. I was able to run 2.5 miles and stretch. It was great to sweat of course, but then I was scared to come home to hear how things went the 40 minutes I was gone.

Thursday:

Ryan finished his final in the morning and came home for lunch. I bolted to the gym right when Ellie was nursed and Brinley went down for her nap. I finally hit the 3 mile mark! Wooo! I am going to plan on reaching the 3 mile mark every time I run now. It felt so good and I really think I am getting into a running groove!

Bummed I was only able to get in 2 running days, but with Ryan's finals schedule taking top priority, and also the missionaries coming over for dinner on Saturday, sometimes things gotta take a back seat.

come on!!!!! in her sleep turtle face :-)