6 weeks

Livy is 6-weeks old tomorrow. Somedays, it seems like she's either sleeping or crying. But then there's today, where she fell asleep in my arms, and I'm really thankful for what an easy baby she is. Honestly, I bet she sleeps 18 hours a day still. She's starting to smile a bit and is holding her head up. And gosh, she's getting big. I think she grew 3-4 inches and packed on 2-3 pounds last night. :)

I've started the Couch to 5k. I'm registering for the Turkey Trot in Prior Lake on Nov 19, so I have to be able to run that far. Losing this baby weight isn't going to be easy; here's hoping running helps.

Ivy started preschool last week. She's going two mornings a week. So far, she loves it. The first day, she told me her favorite part was jumping on the trampoline. Yesterday, she liked going to the playground. She's doing swimming lessons again--she's the only one in her class. She's learning back stroke and breast stroke. It's fun to watch her excel and soak up the encouragement of her teacher.

Jamey & Ivy had their first dental cleanings last week. We decided that Jamey's front tooth (and the extra one next to it) had to come out. He had a couple weeks in Jan/Feb that he fell constantly knocking those teeth loose. We took him to a dentist in FL who said they'll either tighten up or fall out and not to worry about it. Well, they got infected and were in danger of damaging his permanent teeth. So he had two teeth removed the other day. He was super psyched about eating all the popsicles he wanted while the novacaine wore off. He's doing swimming lessons, too. He has two other kids in his class. He loves doing whatever the teacher tells him. And he's an awesome back-floater.

My sister has moved in with us while she attends law school. It's going super great. In between class, homework, working, and running, she manages to entertain the kids and empty the dishwasher. She's currently vegetarian, so I'm trying to think of different things for dinners. I really hate cooking.

Ugh! I was not prepared for how chilly 50 degrees would feel. Our poor kids have three pairs of pants and two sweatshirts. Don't get me wrong, I love the cooler weather. I was just taken by surprise.

Maple Grove Tri review

I'm not writing race reviews because I'm not racing. But I have to say, the Maple Grove Triathlon was disappointing at best.

1. It's a lousy race venue. I don't like having to park 2 miles away and shuttle over. It wasn't "bad" but it wasn't easy--I was lugging our BOB duallie and three kids. The entire Weaver Lake Park is a valley--so there are hills everywhere you want to go. Hills and stairs. It was impossible to see the swim start because it was a good 15 feet down the hill--the hill that was cordoned off so no one could get down there. So, I had to figure out where the run from the lake to transition was to watch Jeremy come out of the water. HOWEVER, we couldn't hear the announcer and had no idea when he got in the water, so we didn't know when he'd be coming out. Impossible to see anything.


2. Pickle Events had some kind of lapse in functionality because Jeremy doesn't have a bike split. And his run time is listed as 10 hours. And it's not just him. Lots of people are missing times or they just are wrong. That's super annoying.


3. CLIX Portrait Studio has a lousy way of organizing official race photos--they're listed by clock time. No reference to race numbers at all. So, if you want to find pictures of your husband or Chris MACCA racing, you have to know what time they biked past the photographer. It's stupid.


4. I think having 3 races going on was dumb and confusing. There was no way to tell if the guys coming in were really fast Olympic racers or slow Sprint racers. AND for the love of all that is common sense, WHY IN THE WORLD, did five heats have on the same swim cap color? How am I supposed to find my husband in an orange cap if there are women in orange caps? Or two groups of orange caps swimming at the same time? DUMB DUMB DUMB.

So, I hope Jeremy doesn't want to do this race again. It's always fun to watch him race, but I don't want to go back to this one. Minneapolis Duathlon for him next year!

2 weeks

Livy is two weeks old, and gosh, this is pretty easy. She just fits right into our family like she's been here forever. Ivy loves her and wants to hold her all the time. Jamey does not like when she cries, but he does like playing with her "wittow ears." I'm trying to make sure to spend some time with those two but mostly Livy just wants me to hold her.

Jeremy goes back to work on Monday. I'm nervous about that, but at least I don't have things that MUST be done.

My sister has moved in with us while she starts law school. She unloads the dishwasher and folds laundry and makes dinner.

I'm eager to get started losing the baby weight. And we're thinking about running the Fargo Marathon in May. I haven't done much of anything in about a year. I'll have to start with the Couch to 5k and then move up from there.

Time to cuddle with my sweet new girl!

Things I'm looking forward to

1. Having my body back, even if I'm soft and overweight for a while.
2. Not itching. I've been itching like crazy this pregnancy--my arms, neck, shoulders. The only thing that seems to help is standing in the shower or living in the freezing basement.
3. The second this baby is born, the heartburn goes away.
4. Being able to get off the couch without grunting and heaving and wishing for a forklift.
5. Wearing shoes that tie.

6. Which is really Number One: Holding our new baby and smelling how sweet she is.

Watching TV and movies

I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to get the DVR from the cable company. With two kids, I have about 90 minutes to myself at night, and I don't always want to spend it watching TV. And with all the training Jeremy's been doing, it just doesn't seem worth it. However, I think the fall season is starting up, and I'd love to watch new episodes without have to actually know when the shows are on.

Hmmm, what to do with Netflix?

Blogging

Something is not working properly with the connection between this blog and Facebook. I don't know if anyone reads the actual blog or just waits until it shows up on Facebook. And now it shows up as just a note instead of a link to the blog. Who knows why? But it has dampened my blogging enthusiasm.

In other news: this baby is growing and growing. I wish she'd come out now, but all in good time. I probably won't be the first woman to be pregnant forever.

Ivy's birthday is in 3 weeks. Then she starts preschool in Sept. I wonder if she'll like it--so far she thinks I'm staying at school with her.

Jamey is currently singing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star as he runs from the deck door to throw himself on the couch.

Jeremy did a bike ride this morning and mowed the lawn. Ivy cried when I told her she had to go outside to play. I feel like taking a nap.

Car Seat Inspection

I can not say enough good things about EMS Captain and "Car Seat Inspector" Malissa Radanke at the Mdewakanton Emergency Services in Prior Lake.

Officer Maureen O'Heir couldn't see us for a while, so I emailed info@shakopeedakota.org and got an email from Malissa the next morning offering to check out my less than stellar attempt at installing the two convertible seats in the back row.

In her email, she said to call for an appointment. So I did. We were in the car, backing out of the driveway to go to a play date. She was available Thursday afternoon, but we'd be playing. How about Friday morning? She won't be in until afternoon--we're going to Alexandria. How about right now? So we detoured on the way to our play date to have the car seats checked out.

I know the technique for installing the car seats, but this preggo belly just wouldn't let me heft my knee up into the car seats to jam them into the backseat. And then I just couldn't figure out how to get the seats TIGHT in the seat belt.

RANT: Why don't minivans have MORE anchor and tether spots? And why only one in the back? Minivans should hold five car seats!! We're going to have to rethink our child-bearing ideas if only four car seats fit in this van.

Anyway, Malissa was great! She reinstalled those seats so fast and got them so tight. Now I feel like my kids are safe in the van. They've been riding around in the back seat with "loose" car seats for about a week. I had almost convinced myself that they'd fly out if I stopped too quickly. Thankfully, they didn't and now they won't.

I did have the infant seat properly installed and tightened and leveled. "Third time's a charm!"

So, if anyone around Prior Lake needs a car seat inspection, contact Malissa. She's awesome!