• I run early in the mornings in my neighborhood and a neighborhood across the street.  I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen other runners running on the same side of the street as me in a different direction.  Do people not know that you are supposed to run facing traffic?  I mean, there’s not a lot of traffic in the suburbs at 6AM but still.  You run facing traffic because then you are not dependent on a driver seeing you to avoid an accident.  You can see the driver coming towards you and react accordingly.  This just makes good sense to me.  Bikers are supposed to ride with the flow of traffic but runners are not.
• I must admit I should technically be running on the sidewalk, but concrete is a harder surface than asphalt so I run in the street.  I still run on the correct side of the street though!
• This is the 4th week of half-marathon training and so far so good.  My tempo runs are hard but they are getting a little easier now that I’ve taken to the streets instead of the treadmill.  I’m up to a 9 mile long run this weekend and I have no fears about making the distance.  It’s been a few years since I ran super long distances in my marathon training, but my body feels like it still has a little endurance muscle memory or something.  After running 26 miles, a 10-12 mile long run doesn’t scare me at all.
• I took a day trip to NYC with DiscoDiva to see “In The Heights” on Broadway.  It was a total whirlwhind!  We flew out that morning, attended the 2PM matinee, grabbed slices of authentic NYC pizza (delicious) and cupcakes from the famous Magnolia Bakery (thumbs down), and caught at 6:30PM flight back to ATL.  I had a great time and the play was excellent even though Jordin Sparks was a no-show for her role.  I spent Monday in a fog of exhaustion though.
• I missed my baby boy so much when I was gone!  I saw him Sunday morning before I left, but when I came home he was sleeping.  I thought about his little face and kissing his fat cheeks all day at work.  He must have missed me too because he toddled over to me as soon as I walked into the door.
• I made some squash casserole last night that was so freaking good.  I looked at a few recipes and took ideas from all of them.  I freestyled a whole lot so if I make it again it won’t taste as good.  That is unfortunate.  I’m so proud of myself for producing something that tasted really good without a recipe and precise measurements!  I almost never do that.
• I’m officially in love with brussels sprouts.  A bag of frozen sprouts, bacon bits, olive oil, salt and pepper roasted for 45 minutes in the oven at 375 = delicious!
• 11 days until Lewis’ birthday party.  I will be so glad when I’m done with this because you know all the planning has fallen on me!  The Mister says I’m “doing too much” but he would be the first one to say something if this turned out to be super cheesy and poorly planned.  He has no idea what goes into this sort of thing so I just ignore him.   Babs and DiscoDiva have offered to help, but I don’t know what to tell them to do to help me!

He took his first real non-tentative steps on Sunday.  We took this video last Tuesday.  Yesterday, he walked over to greet me at the door when I came home from work.  I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen him crawling now.  So trippy how fast this all happens!

Work In Progress

All Done! 'Fro gone!

See...I really do smile! Please excuse Mommy's hair!

The ‘fro is gone for now!  Grandma visited over the Fourth and braided Lewis’ hair over a three day period (!).  I’m sad because I have neither the time nor skill to duplicate this but I love the results.  Thank God for grandmothers!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

Not sure if ice cream is age appropriate but he looooved it!

No clue what we were doing here...I just think he looks cute!

This is sooo not wordless LOL!

Lewis went to his first baseball game last Sunday.  We were seated in style in a nice cool box suite courtesy of my company (the only way to go!).  We quickly learned that venturing outside the box to our stadium seats was not a great idea.  Lewis burst into tears everytime the crowd cheered.  The sudden noise scared the mess out of him.  Methinks we need to get out more.

Lewis was a hit with my co-workers!  They hadn’t seen him since he was about 5 weeks old and I was still on maternity leave.  He actually allowed one of my co-workers to hold him for an extended period of time.  Good times!

Don’t be a bad mommy like me!  Take that crib mobile DOWN when your kid starts to push up and get mobile.  We are slowly transitioning to the crib (co-sleeping turns bad when your baby has the nerve to not want to sleep on his back anymore!), so I wasn’t very diligent about childproofing it.  Lewis though it would be great fun to stand under the mobile and pull on the toys.  Bye Bye mobile!

Radio Flyer Wagon

Lewis toddles along behind this wagon all across our sitting room floor.  I chase behind him hands poised in case he falls.  He bumps into a barrier and gets puzzled because he isn’t “walking” anymore.  He is ready to go!  Lord help me will my baby boy be walking one day soon?

Lately it feels like every time I catch my bearings I have something else to do! I don’t know about you, but I thrive on routine. I wake up, exercise, go to work, come home and cook dinner and play with my son, bed…rinse repeat. Weekends are a little looser and involve more “fun” activities but things have just been crazy to me mid-week lately and that has thrown me for a real loop.

Starting with the weekend of the Warrior Dash, my days have been a steady stream of non-routine stuff. Great times and all, but I’m looking forward to a few weeks of quiet. No visitors, no trips!

So what’s been going on?

Through The Fire!

I completed the Warrior Dash. Sister P and Disco Diva/5 Starz (what’s up with that DD?) joined me and we had a good old muddy time! Sister P beat me by a minute because of her mad physical skills long legs.  The obstacles weren’t too physically demanding but it was a challenge to stay upright on a muddy course.  Things got even more fun after a slide into a mud pit where I lost my shoe, dug it out of the mud and slapped it back on with 3 inches of gunk inside.  Fun times!

Commenter Sundaze (*waves*) and her friend greeted me at the course after we had cleaned ourselves off in the dirty river.  I hope your buddy doesn’t hate me for putting this idea in your head!

Lewis with Grandma...and much attitude!

We headed down to Charleston for The Mister’s cousin’s graduation.  I had grand plans for working out on our short trip.  I bought everything necessary for a good run – except sneakers.  Good job on that one!

The Graduate

Gradutation season continues so I headed to Richmond for my niece’s high school graduation.  I remember when she was a newborn and now she’s 18 and heading to Clark Atlanta in the fall.  I can’t believe it.  I feel so old!  I never really feel old until I am around family that I remember being babies.

So good times have been had but hard times are ahead.  All of these trips and visitors have given me many excuses to not be strict about my diet.  I have 3 months to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight and a lot of pounds to lose.  I *am* making progress (the dress in the picture above…Size 12) but it feels like I have so far to go.  I’ll keep pluggin away though…because that’s what I do.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I spend way, way, way too much money on groceries!  I mean it is ridiculous.  When I read what other mommies spend to feed families much bigger than my small 3 person unit I am shocked and amazed.  Right now, I budget $275 per paycheck and I get paid twice a month.  And that $275 has not been enough lately.  I use cash for household expenses so when the cash for groceries is gone we’re done.  Well, what happens when the grocery budget is done and you need a $42 box of diapers of a $27 tub of formula?  You dip into next pay periods money and the problem never seems to end…  Despite including formula, diapers, wipes and the crazy expensive cat food that limits Caramel The Cat’s vomiting ($2/can!) in my grocery budget, I still think I am overspending.

Part of the problem is me.  I’m a sale junkie.  Chicken breasts on sale for $1.99? Stock up!  Lactaid for $1.99 at Kroger yesterday (regular $4.69) buy 2 because The Mister goes through milk and cereal like there is no tomorrow.  Stocking up can be wise, but it can also gets ridiculous.  I keep stocking up yet constantly finding myself running to the store for ingredients for some recipe.  Clearly, I am not stocking up on the right things or I need to re-evaluate my cooking to use up the 5 packs of chicken breasts in the deep freezer.

I do shop weekly sales as I mentioned above.  I use coupons when possible, but when you aren’t really buying a bunch processed foods spending $2.50 on the Sunday paper and all the time required for coupon clipping doesn’t seem worth it.  They never give $.50 off of fresh broccoli!  I scan Costco for good deals (because sometimes it is cheaper to buy at the grocery store).  I do my part here!

My challenge for myself this June is to use up the stuff I already have in the freezer and cabinet.  I won’t make any foolish promises to not buy anything because I need fresh fruits and veggies and Greek yogurt weekly*.  However, I will not go overbudget this month and I won’t buy any new protein unless I run out.  I will also find recipes that don’t require extra non-traditional spices (WTH is sweet paprika?) that I don’t have.

We are also going to feed Lewis solids more regularly.  The Mister is lazy and won’t feed him real food (it does require so much more effort).   However, the boy is nearly 9 months old and when the day he hits 12 months old formula is DONE.  He almost snatched a chicken bone out of my hand the other day, he’s ready to be eating more real food meals than bottles.  This would save a ton of money on its own.  $50-$65 of the budget is totally dedicated to formula..and that is with me getting the best deal at Costco.

What about you?  Am I the only one who does this?  How much do you spend on groceries?  Am I crazy to spend this much on groceries for 3 people?

*Side Note: Those green bags for produce really work!  My strawberries have been kicking it for a week and half now which never happens.

7-1/2 Months

He is turning into a “real little boy” and not a baby anymore and it is only going to get worse.  I want/don’t want him to grow up!