Bambino Mom

This is what one-year-old Aidan looks like:

Brought to you by the number 1.

Can’t believe he’s already 1. Can’t believe I gave birth a year ago!

So this week has been pretty darn busy. We’re getting ready for his 1st Birthday Bash Sunday. We’re very excited, and so are our parents. My parents are in charge of decorations, and Ozgur’s parents are in charge of food – so we pretty much wouldn’t be having a party without them.

Well, I am doing the cake, and cleaning our house. But that’s about it, which is awesome. Low stress.

And then A went and threw a wrench in his Birthday week with this eye thing he’s had! Babies… typical.

We have been to see three different doctors – and including follow-ups, we’ve seen a doctor each day this week. Finally we’ve got a hold on it, and we’re seeing improvement (but that explains the red eye in these pics…).

When did he get so big?

Anyway, in all the chaos this week, we did get time to go out to dinner as a family for A’s birthday (although Mr. Talker standing by our table pretty much stole the show until we had to leave because Aidan ran out of grapes and wanted to scream – yay big night out!).

So on the way home, we stopped and set the camera on timer to get a quick family pic to remember the occasion.

Yes, that’s drool on Ozgur’s sleeve. Standard.

And for good measure, we fed him sugar (in the form of cake) before bed. What’s a first birthday without sugar? Besides, we had to practice for Sunday! (And really besides, he squished and threw most of it.)

Mmmm…

In other news, with regards to my running and eating better, all is progressing well. I was really in need of a run come Tuesday after I took two days off post-5k Saturday.

Oh, hello! I forgot to tell you I ran aNOTHER 5k last Saturday! And my sweet husband decided to join me for his first race because he didn’t want me to have to run alone (not that I would have minded, but it was much nicer running with someone – the kind of someone you know so well that you don’t feel like you have to talk to them… you can just run and enjoy it together in silence).

Which reminds me, I got a PR! 26:54! My first 5k was 28:10 the weekend before. I was totally impressed with myself. And O has agreed to join me for one more before I leave for military training, so hopefully he’ll push me to shave even a little more off.

Post-run. Woo hoo!

I won’t lie to you. I’m so tired of not eating cheese or milk (two of my true loves in the food world). So on Aidan’s birthday dinner night out, I had a gluten-free cheese pizza. And to top it off, I came home and ate a (glutenous) chocolate chip cookie WITH half of a glass of milk. My stomach then reminded me why I’m not currently consuming dairy and gluten.

Seriously, thank God for raw.goat.cheese – currently the only dairy that’s both stomach and migraine-approved. Speaking of which…… it’s calling my name. Gotta go!

Are you dieting or foregoing troublesome foods? What do you miss the most? Leave it in the comments. I’ll commiserate with you.

I didn’t need inspiration on my vacation. I just ran. Every day except one.

High Five!

And THEN… I ran my first 5k!!! Time: 28:10. Better than I anticipated. It felt awesome. I think I’m going to do one this weekend, too. I could potentially already be addicted.

As for my super active vacation (swimming, walking and running every day), here’s what happened while I was away:

I can’t begin to describe how relaxing this vacation was for me, and how much my little family needed it.

(Forgive the hair.)

Football season started – Go Hokies and Cowboys! And Aidan started walking far distances all by himself. He took many opportunities to walk with us on the beach.

We couldn’t tell this kid no. He wanted to dive right in.

So between Granddaddy rescuing him, and him trying to find more trouble, they tried to get him as close to the big waves as possible without getting pummeled.

And on his down time, he was practicing his moves…

And eating sand…

And swimming with Mom and Dad…

As for the adult fun, I spent time with my parents, sister and her fam, Granddad and his wife, and some good friends.

I got my runs in, and O got to golf. My mom, sister and I took the babies for a high speed shopping pass, and my sister and I got to rent some bikes and cruise around Duck one morning. It was awesome. I felt like a kid. I even drove by my friend’s beach house I used to visit with her family when we were younger growing up together.

But now it’s back to reality! Fall’s so close I can taste it (literally, because I’ve already baked my first batch of pumpkin seeds.) I have more goals to achieve and healthy recipes to try. (I tried spaghetti squash with meat sauce tonight for the first time, and that rocked!) More on those in the next post, so stay tuned. What’d I miss in your life while I was away?

Today’s inspiration (taking a break from the workouts):

That’s right, a trip to the organic market.

This detox program allows for raw goat cheese on salads (and I’m sure it would also be permitted in moments of weakness when yet another raw vegetable just won’t do). We looked for it in four grocery stores before I resorted to visiting Mom’s. Idk why I didn’t go there sooner.

I was like a kid in a candy shop… minus the yeast feeding sugar.

Anyway, 30 minutes later, I walked out with my raw goat cheese, millet, goat’s milk ice cream (BOMB), vegetable broth, stevia and kale. Sweet grocery list, right?

So needless to say, as promised I had my salmon tonight (quite filling), and of course my salad WITH goat cheese. Delicious. Just delicious. This goat cheese (and let’s be honest, the ice cream too) may save me on this journey. I may make it to Friday. But I’m not promising anything…

Another win – I did find this awesome recipe on Elana’s Pantry to make kale chips. Delish! Such a healthy alternative to potato chips! Word to the wise, don’t overdue the olive oil. And only make as much as you plan on eating. They don’t stay as crispy as they are when they come right out of the oven.

Aidan’s a little young for them, although he did like the taste. From what I hear read, older kids devour them.

The good: down 3 lbs this morning. Goat cheese and goat milk ice cream saved me. And kale chips are great – something that will last in my recipe repertoire long after the detox.

The bad: I can’t stop dreaming about baked goods. It doesn’t help that I’m reading a bunch of foodie blogs. I want to make everything I see.

The ugly: I still have three more days.

Leave love/encouragement.

Today’s PERSPIRATION INSPIRATION:

22-time Olympian: 18 Gold, 2 Silver, and 2 Bronze.

Okay, so that’s not actually me swimming in my birthday suit. My arms aren’t that cut… That’s the real deal, Michael Phelps. And I still have no idea how he (or any other swimmer for that matter) actually gets a full breath to the side like that. It looks like he’s eating water.

But that’s pretty much what I looked like today at the pool…

A generous friend gave me real swimmer stuff like a TYR suit and goggles, and a swim cap. It’s about time I get a little more serious if I hope to actually finish the swim segment of the tri (which, might I add, is the first part).

So let me paint a picture for you of what I actually looked like today. The bathing suit fit – which was my biggest concern. So that was a huge win. And it’s black and a one piece, so way less “look at my mom bod” than the other two-pieces I have. But it quickly took a turn for the … learning phase.

I’ve never actually worn a swim cap before. So… trying to peel that tight thing over my big head was comical to say the least. (I know this mostly because O was laughing at me will pulling Aidan around the pool.) I even pulled up a YouTube instructional video about it before I went to the pool, and it still took me a good 15 minutes.

The goggles were pretty straight forward, although for some reason, I still close my eyes when I turn to the side to breathe. And I’m pretty sure I looked like a bug. But I’m down with looking like a bug if I can swim like a pro (which is of course the direction I’m headed).

And then I spent the majority of my time swimming up and down the pool with a noodle trying to learn the right way to breathe. But it seemed like as soon as I got some traction in the breathing department, my hips would drop, and my form would get all crazy.

Ozgur says I’m over thinking it (as he and Aidan splash and walk along side my turtle pace). Sorry, Ryan Lochte. It just doesn’t come naturally to me.

Now running, I can do. One foot in front of the other is a little more straight forward.

Tomorrow: intervals. 30/30 for 1.5 miles, with a 1.5 mile recovery run.

Foremost (and always the most important thing…), today’s PERSPIRATION INSPIRATION:

Running in the rain.

That’s what I looked like today.

Just kidding, I probably looked more like this:

Drowned rat.

But the good news about working out is it makes you release happy chemicals, and the happy chemicals help you lie to yourself about things like how you look while you’re running in the rain.

Good thing I didn’t do my make up today… I would have looked more like this:

… sans the model face under the makeup…

And besides, the important thing is, I ran in the rain. 4 miles. And it was awesome. Seriously, it rocked. Then again, I’m an overcast, light rain kinda gal. My eyes prefer it to the bright sun.

Anyway, I’m still truckin’ with my game plan, and I’ve even recruited some girls to run a 5k and 10k with me. (Michael Jackson’s “You are not alone…” just popped into my head.)

So here are some general updates:

The good: today was the first day that I went out and didn’t feel like I was out of breath. The entire run, I actually felt great. Never out of breath, never sucking wind, and my stride is getting better. All this running stuff I read talks about the magic stride per minute rate of 180. I was no where near that (I think I was something crazy off like 90 spm). So I focused on my cadence today and was able to increase it. I wasn’t able to count it because I wasn’t wearing my watch, but I was keeping cadence in my head that was much closer to 1.5 strides per second.

The bad: my hip and ankle are starting to hurt more. My right leg is shorter than my left (my sister used to joke that it made me run in circles… don’t worry I have thick skin). It caused some knee issues in high school, but my physical therapist at the time warned me it’d cause some hip problems later in life. Am I already there? To the “later in life” point? Ugh.

The ugly: I haven’t lost a pound. -_- I keep telling myself that I’m in the fat-converting-to-muscle phase. And I’m pretty sure it’s true because I definitely feel stronger and slightly more toned, but still. I’m a numbers girl. And I really like to see the weight drop. So it better start happening soon…

That’s a wrap. Leave me some love, friends.

SUCCESS! We have success.

First time out, we ran three miles and not a peep. Except in the beginning I think he wondered if I was still there (because I wasn’t panting yet), so he tried to turn his head up my way. I let him know I was still there, and after that he just kept on truckin’. Probably because it wasn’t long he’d be reassured simply by the incessant heavy breathing coming from behind him. Anyway, GO BOB.

Today’s PERSPIRATION INSPIRATION:

Who doesn’t want these arms?! Seriously…

That’s why I busted out some tough arm workouts today, and for the SECOND time this week. Get it.

If anyone’s curious, here’s my specific plan as of today (subject to change as this is only week two I’m on here, people…). Day of rest – aka the day all the workouts are centered around – is either Saturday or Sunday, depending on our weekend plans.

Working backwards from that, I have to get 6 days in of workouts. Mandatory: one day of intervals (no more than one, because recovery is key, too). Minimums: one day of strength training, and ideally two, but the second can be substituted for a cross training workout (swim or bike), or done in conjunction with the cross or short run. *More cross training to come post-military training. That leaves me with three runs – one longer than the others and probably on the weekend.

Simple, right?

Pffff. My legs were so sore after the first strength training + run day. So. Sore. I felt the soreness for two days with every step I took. And we have lots of stairs in our house. Add a 27 pounder on my hip, and my legs nearly gave out. Several times.

But now, it’s starting to feel much better. Like the good kind of sore where it motivates you to work out and work through it and make it go away.

This weekend’s challenge: I’m going out of town Friday. But before I get on the road, I have to do my intervals at some point. And while I’m out of town, I have to do a 4-miler! I’m going to need willpower and planning. And the strength to resist temptations that would otherwise occupy my time.

Wish my luck. I’ll need it.

P.S. Remember, words of encouragement are always appreciated. Leave a comment. It will make my day. (Wellll, almost. I actually already have a favorite part of my day, and it’s right before Aidan goes to sleep when we are rocking in his chair and he’s laying so sweetly in my arms… ahhh, motherhood.)

P.P.S. Aidan is 11 months today. The last month he’s in the ZEROS!!!! I can’t flipping believe it. Where did the time go? Here’s a visual for you. He’s grown a bit.

Yes, those are my leprechaun legs behind him. We were having a dance party in the kitchen, and he was loving it.

At least I hope…

I did it. I finally signed up for a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class. It’s a free trial. And I really hope I love it (and can afford it), because I have ALWAYS wanted to take it.

This is me. In my head…

Why, you ask? My top three reasons:

1. I want to be able to defend myself. And not just self-defense class defend myself. Like, I’m-a-pro-and-you-just-made-a-huge-mistake defend myself.
2. I want to undergo the conditioning required to progress from belt to belt.
3. And most of all, I want to increase my own physical self-confidence. I really think I’ll sleep better knowing I can protect myself and my family in just about any dangerous situation.

The free trial is Friday night, so I’ll keep you posted on how the class goes. Hopefully, this is the beginning of something awesome.

First, let’s start with PERSPIRATION INSPIRATION:

At 4 p.m. this afternoon, I lost a Word document that I’d been working on at work (which is at home for now) for over three hours. And it didn’t automatically come up in auto-recovery mode either. And it had a deadline. And the deadline was this afternoon.

A bit frantic, I hurried to start anew and basically try as quickly as I could to get everything down on paper… or screen in this instance, before it left my mind completely.

But the part that was most frustrating at the time was the fear my workout would be sacrificed so I could finish this stupid proposal resume. After spending all day in my workout clothes (sports bra and all), I was going to be severely disappointed if I couldn’t work out.

Then this really awesome girl came through with a huge trick that saved the day, we found my lost work, and I was done by 5:30 p.m. Just in time to get my workout in before dinner at Grandma-Turkey’s with the fam.

It rained ever so slightly today. Ever-so-slight rain days are the best days – for running, for anything really. I’m an overcast weather kinda girl. I couldn’t wait to get on the trail.

BAM. 3 miles later, I rocked it. A few takeaways, you CAN run after a migraine in the same day. You just need to take ibuprofen before and after.

By the way, from a I’m-the-mama perspective, O and I have worked out an agreement. I get Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. He gets Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. And we BOTH get Sunday.

…I have a dream that one day we will be able to work out together…

Anyway, this may all change if we ever get a jogging stroller. I have… another dream… that Aidan LOVES riding in the jogging stroller because we go faster than the regular stroller. I really think I’m right on this one.

In the meantime, however, we’ll continue our shift work arrangements so we can work out de-stress, and I can reach my GOAL!!!

I’ll try to keep my excuses (albeit incredibly justifiable) brief. I decided to go back to work. And Ozgur got unhappy at his job, and decided to quit. Which is actually great because we didn’t have a nanny yet (nevermind we’ve been on the hunt for like three months).

And then I got an insane amount of migraines back to back to back… to back… you get the idea. And had to change my diet. Like overhaul it completely. I’m gluten free, but that’s not the worst of it. Here’s just a sampling of a few of my favorite things I can no longer eat: kefir, yogurt, chocolate, cheese, decaf coffee, onions, citrus fruits and juices, avocados (bye bye beloved guacamole), bananas… just to name a few.

But I found some inspiration while trying to get our lives back into balance. Back when I was Selki House Manager, before I returned to the working force, I was working out on the reg (that’s regular for short – I know, I’m hip) to get rid of my baby weight. And it worked. I lost 14 pounds, which put me 4 pounds under my pre-preggo weight.

So my next goal is to lose another 14 by the end of the year.

So because accountability helps me stay on track, y’all are my new workout buddies (feel free to provide words of encouragement in the comments since that’s what good workout buddies do). I’m going to get real quick. We’ll have some photos, numbers from weigh ins, and we’ll verge on what I would normally consider TMI in almost every post (since before now, I’d never share these deets with ANYONE out of sheer embarrassment).

Again, I can’t emphasize enough how great your encouragement would be! Keep me honest, and let me know what your fitness goals and successes are.

Today’s PERSPIRATION INSPIRATION (I always get so pumped to go run when I see this commercial – perhaps I should play it on days when I’m feeling lazy. Oh and disregard the translations at the bottom.):

It’s been so long.

Ah, it feels quite nice to settle in to just the right spot on my couch (call me Shelly) and chat with you. Or write at you. All of yous who listen. Or read. And because you come back and read, I’m so sorry I disappeared for so long. I’ll try not to do it ever again. But I can’t make any promises. I have an almost-nine-month-old boy, if you weren’t already aware.

To the point: teething bites. Pun intended. In fact, I erased “sucks” because bites is so much better in this context.  I digress…

Aidan sprouted two teeth since we last spoke. And it was hell on stroller wheels for two solid weeks. So far, what I’ve learned is, one bad week per new tooth. (I’ll let you know if this equation proves to be correct.) His came in back to back.

By bites, I mean does not sleep, eats less (therefore is hungry more often), fusses a lot, and wants to be held constantly. Don’t get me wrong. I love cuddles. But toting a 25-pounder that’s trying to jump out of your arms and fussing when he’s not in them, that gets tough after a while. In fact it gets tough the first couple hours. It wears you down after the first few days. And it almost breaks you after a week.

Not to mention the pain he’s probably experiencing. Of course none of us remember how painful it is to sprout teeth. But (I hope) we’ve all been to the dentist. And most everything at the dentist pretty much bites.

Then the dust settles, and he recovers. Not only recovers, but makes progress in the sleep department. Big win.

But just when we were getting comfortable again, he reminded us he’s got 18 more baby teeth that have to rear their painful heads. We’ve only just begun. And with that, I’m off to bed if I want to get any sleep between his wake-ups.

P.S. While we’ve established how much teething bites, I’d like to point out that the toothy grin that follows is simply precious. A little something to look forward to…