More adorableness from Abby the dog

Incidentally, this past week's running went ok...I had to run inside 3 out of the 4 days because of crappy weather. I HATE the treadmill but managed alright. In total, I only ran 13.4 total miles in 4 runs. But I had two 4+ mile run in there which is good. This week, I'll be in Vegas for a nursing conference so my goals are simply to run while out there...I have no idea what kind of time I'll have so I don't want to put too much on myself!

Our newest addition

I have more pics but here's a few of our newest addition Abby. She's a rescue shi-tzu who's not house trained but super cute and has a ton of energy. She's anywhere from 6-10 years old according to the vet...that's 42-70 in dog years!

Week two marathon training recap

So week two. It was not what I planned. It was Aaron's birthday week but we're not having his party till April so I figured it wouldn't really get in the way. It didn't but the bronchiolitis/pneumonia and a few doctor's trips did! So, thanks to Alex who helped push me a bit to run a little rather than give up the whole day of running (run 2 miles rather than 4 if time gets away from me and it's the end of the day...) I ran a few short runs on the treadmill (I hate running on the treadmill and have no attention span for it). Not my favorite thing but at least I ran. And since I really had limited time on those days to run, I focused on speed rather than distance. So I had three days where I ran 2 miles in less than 20 minutes. I ran hard but it really was kind of a fun change of pace (literally!) for me. I did get my long run in, I ran 5.2 miles on a beautiful day and had a great time doing it. My hips were really sore afterward but I felt fine after 24 hours. I used an app on my iPhone called run keeper and was able to see my distance, my time, and my average pace. I actually run faster outside than I expected! I also walked to and from work twice this weekend which is a total of 5.2 miles...so my total for this week is:

Week 1: 13.4 miles running, 4 running days

Week 2: 11.2 miles running, 5.2 miles walking, 4 running days

Next weeks' goals:

5 running days, long run of 5 miles

The genius of Charlie

Charlie: "look mommy, I made a horse"

Me: "that's nice Charlie"

Charlie: "No mommy look at my horse, I really made a horse"

Me: "wow, that's cool"

Charlie: "mommy, please look at my horse"

...clearly I wasn't actually looking at the horse...I was feeding a difficult to feed Aaron his breakfast and was not feeling like playing a game with Charlie's food...but I looked upon his insistence and this is what I saw...

Pretty impressive if you ask me! He's got quite an eye for the abstract and for engineering/artistic things...we'll see where he takes this in his life!

Aaron's birthday fun!?

So the day before Aaron's actual birthday, he was at the docs with some wheezing and a cough. Diagnosed as bronchiolitis, started him on albuterol. He was somewhat miserable but still happy to be pushed around in his wagon by Charlie (above picture)...fast forward 12 hours to his birthday morning...
Still happy, mostly, but the day got worse and worse. He was so unhappy, I felt so bad for him! When Charlie got home from school (before his swim lessons) we gave Aaron the two gifts we bought for him and he screamed through pretty much the whole thing!

The big crocodile tears are the worst...man he springs those puppys out at a moments notice!

We tried the cupcake and he wasn't screaming but he was certainly not happy!

Pseudo smile!

His first taste of frosting...

Poor guy! We are celebrating his birthday with a party closer to when he was due (mid-April) so we can have a spring party outside and because both of my kids seem to be sick around their real birthdays...too funny! Well we were back at the docs today with worsening of his breathing and fever and general crappy looking...he has a small pneumonia in his left lung but of course this is all viral so antibiotics will not fix this...only time. We started him on inhaled steroids with the plan to move to oral steroids if he gets worse...ugh! I thought this kids would escape the inhaler routine...at least he's starting it at 1 instead of 5 months like Charlie! Anyway, he's a trooper and we tried to make his birthday fun, he was just feeling a bit under the weather!

"What a long strange trip it's been..."

A year ago today, my littlest guy was born. It was a pregnancy filled with stress and his arrival was nothing short of a huge relief!

He spent 12 days in the NICU where I work and struggled to gain weight and remember to breathe...

but he came home to meet his big brother and they immediately formed a bond that will never be broken!

Aaron at 3 months was still remembering to breathe, trying not to stress us out with his hospitalizations, and was a really fussy refluxy kind of baby. His favorite position was being held in the Bjorn. It felt like the first six months of his life dragged on and I couldn't wait till he was older and not in so much pain!
At six months he was alot more pleasant and had more fun interacting with everyone. I could see the light at the end of the reflux tunnel, and I was starting to wish that time would slow down!
Nine months and he was a little doll. He was sitting and crawling and smiling and laughing and he was totally loving life!


And at one year old he is a love. He makes me crazy and happy all at the same time. He throws fit of screaming and laughter in the same 30 second time period! He has taught me that things just aren't always going to go as planned, and that's ok! He's kept me on my toes thus far and I can't wait to see what else he's got up his sleeves!

Happy birthday big boy! I love you tons!

The many faces of Charles William

Charlie shows off his new haircut with great enthusiasm!