Gwyn's World: The Big One!

Wow! Big ole #bloggerfail in getting this post done in any kind of timely fashion. Oh well, sometimes life just gets in the way, and that isn't a bad thing. But I promised to photo bomb you from G's birthday celebration (to call it a party would be taking it a bit far), so here you go. Don't say you weren't warned of the cuteness to follow!!

Personally, I spent the ENTIRE morning of the party decorating a cake that G wasn't even going to eat. This was after the first cake got stuck in the pan...it still got eaten, don't you worry about that! It just wasn't pretty!

From this position I barked orders to the rest of the crew (my mom, dad, and the hubs). There were seriously only 6 other people, all family, coming over-but I'm just that way. I made a few appetizers (didn't take pictures!), had a picture from each month of G's first year printed and put up on the wall, sent the hubs for a few balloons-he came back with more than would fit through the door-and generally tried to spruce the place up. All with the little one hanging out.

Everything turned out great, and at 1-does she care...or remember? No, but we got some good pics so we can tell the story repeatedly when she's old enough to want to know.

And how do you summarize in words a year of growing, learning, adapting and a complete upside down-ness to your life?

From a tiny little thing that I didn't have a clue what to do with...

To this...

Just one word. Blessed. She's amazing. She amazes me everyday.

With her smile.

Her sense of humor.

Her love of life.

Oh yes, and her love of food :-)

She literally destroyed the cupcake I made just for her.

She dances when she eats, and at first taste, she busted a move...and when we went to help her with the wrapper I thought someone was going to lose a finger! She did not want anyone near her food!

I guess I'll take that as a compliment that the cupcake was tasty ;-) I even made a 'clean' one using honey as the sweetener in an effort to try to avoid a crazy sugar rush. That did not work. But she enjoyed it, we all enjoyed watching and heck-you're allowed a sugar rush on your birthday, right?

We have grown together this past year. We've learned a WHOLE lot. And I know there is never an end to that learning. But I think I'm ready to give up the "new mom" title and just be a mom. Gone are the days of total freak outs, replaced by some sense that I know what to do when she fusses, cries, falls down, coughs, has a blow out, puts something disgusting in her mouth! I'm a mom. And she'll always be my baby.

Here's to many more frustratingly long birthday party days for mom where the end result is SO worth it...

Mom Without Baby-A Day in Pics

I am lucky enough that my MIL and SIL live nearby and are usually fighting each other to take G whenever the need arises. In fact, G gets to play hookie from school most Fridays to stay home with her Aunt and she has even spent a few nights away too.

Grammi and G at her first WV Mountaineer game!

But this weekend she left early Sunday morning and didn't return until Monday evening. So-what's a mom to do without a wanna-be-walking, I prefer attention at all times, almost toddler, scrambling up her leg or climbing anything else in sight? Well, here is what I did-in pictures (and captions!) pretty much in order of my crazy (somehow busier than when G's here!) day.

Baked bread!

Make 3 kinds of protein/snack bars!

Made a mess, and then cleaned it up!

4 mile run...

Went shopping for myself, came home with G's birthday dress instead!

Took these goofballs for extra walks-beautiful day!

Hard wood=Hard work!! This literally takes hours!

Rolled coins for G's bank account...while eating ice cream and watching Project Runway! :)

There were a few other things, like grocery getting (ugh!), laundry and general tidying up, but for this Type A chic a very productive and anxiety reducing day!! It was great to knock out some chores but I miss my baby girl. So do the puppies, they are pacing around wondering why G has been missing for so long, it's very cute. She'll be back soon and then the fun can begin again!

Happy G in the stands at the game!

Weekend in MI

Wow, it's Tuesday evening already!! Where have the past 4 days gone?! I guess 2 of them were spent on the road so that explains a lot...G is a great traveler. Thank goodness!!

I have been on a family/friend visiting overload! I arrived at my parent's house Friday afternoon and in a few hours my best friend/cousin was making us a dinner full of goodies from her garden. She is way too smart for her own good and is a fountain of information on the effect food has on your body. My mom and I are now armed with some new information that is likely to make the men in our lives cry for their soda and candy! ;-) Sorry guys! Hopefully after I get the chance to visit some of the resources she provided and maybe make some changes I can pass the info on. Needless to say, there was no BBB workout completed on Friday. Oops.

Saturday morning I ran a 5k as my "cardio of choice" workout. It was part of a local event called the Pig Gig, betcha can't guess what kind of cook-off they have! We got a medal stamped with a happy pig running through finish line tape just for participating- awesome!

I hope you realize the goofy pose is a nod to the Olympics!

It was a humid morning, thank goodness the race was on the water so we had a breeze. It was a nice route but I have never been part of such a messy start. They didn't separate runners from walkers and had children runners all mixed in so I spent the first half mile trying to get around people and into a groove. I finished in 31:48, not even close to my goal time. No excuses though, I wanted to stop and walk several times but didn't. I'll take that as a victory.

Saturday afternoon my mom, G and I drove to visit with my old colleagues from Indiana. I literally felt like I spent the majority of the weekend in the car. Good thing I like mine. And apparently so does G. She became a big ham over the weekend. I guess there was a swine theme!

My Dad and I golfed on Sunday morning. I was feeling pretty rusty since I didn't play at all last year (a belly full of G probably would have gotten in the way!) and only once so far this year. It was a really nice course though and we just enjoyed being out there. Then we visited with my brother and family. I got real lazy with the pics on Sunday-sorry!

In between those adventures I had my mom do BBB Workout C and core with me. She's a trooper, even though she accused me of trying to kill her more than once! I love being up there, but it's good to be back and get to my usual schedule, I'm a real stickler for a schedule! I'm excited to be starting the next Phase of BBB and I plan to make some more detailed updates during this one.

Until next time Michigan :-)

Road Trip!!

It's time for another trip to MI to visit my lovely family. Only this time it's just me and G. Girl's trip!!

Just in the past few days she's become increasingly stubborn and all about G. As in, this is what I want and I want it now and I'm going to scream at you when you disagree. We were planning to drive overnight tonight so she'd be asleep for the trip but some last minute changes have me getting up SUPER early to leave tomorrow. Can you say caffeine??

That means this evening was filled with unpacking for 3 and repacking for 2 and I didn't get my workout in. Hopefully I won't be too exhausted when I arrive tomorrow to do Workout C, even if I don't get to the cardio part after.

Best Body Bootcamp Week 2:

Monday:  Workout A plus HIIT-awesome once again. I thought I'd get more reps to fatigue during the second week, but it was the opposite. I'd never done HIIT on the elliptical before but it kicked my butt. In a good way.

Tuesday:  Run intervals on treadmill-3.6 miles

Wednesday:  Workout B plus steady elliptical cardio-My goal was 2 minute wall sits. I got one (out of four!) Progress is progress right?! My gluteus are definitely feeling it today! Oh yeah, and core.

Thursday:  OFF

Friday:  Plan is for Workout C plus core. Maybe an evening walk with the folks and G.

Saturday:  Run 5k race. Shooting for under 30:30 finish.

Sunday:  Golf-I always walk when playing with my dad. And I'm horrible so there is a lot of walking from one side to the other...and a lot of searching for golf balls!

It's a big, busy weekend of fun with the fam in MI. I can't help but wish every time I have to make this trip that I could blink my eyes and bob my head like I Dream of Jeanie and just be there. 8 hours is a long time in a car, and it's likely to be longer on my own with a 9 month old! Please send me all of your patience, I may need some extra :-)

Then I'm excited to start with BBB Phase 2. Tina sent us the plans already and I know it's going to be a whole new kind of hurt. Gotta keep those muscles guessing!

Big weekend plans? Do they include some QT with your favorite peeps?

WILT...Work-Life Balance?

I read an article recently that, while really no surprise, still fascinated me. It was a study on working parents and how the stress they experience can impact the nutrition of their entire family. According to it, working mothers (especially those experiencing stress at work) reported less family meals, more reliance on take out, and less fresh food. The Debbie Downer part to me is that they also report less encouragement of their family's healthful eating.

As a full-time working mom I hate to hear these things, but I experience it every day. The challenge of squeezing 25 hours worth of stuff that 'needs' to be done into a mere 24 hours. And I only have one kid!!!

Squash from my garden anyone? Soon to be baby food!

I try to be mindful every day of how my actions may influence G and how she will grow to view her world. I want her to know that no one is perfect, especially her momma! But I do set goals for myself, alot of them health and fitenss related, and work toward them in the best way I know how.

I've been doing fairly well in July with meeting those goals. I got 3 good runs in (Goal #1) and a couple of total body workouts last week and am off to a good start this week with a run tonight. Clean eating (Goal #2) is a struggle, but I'm getting better. I did take one day of pics in an effort to hold myself accountable (Goal #3), and through some glitch G ended up in the collage instead of breakfast-since I think she's so cute I just left it!

I had overnight oats for breakfast, shared a cranberry chicken salad wrap for lunch (see the remaining crackers from my Habits post?) and a spicy back bean burger, sauteed kale and quinoa salad for dinner. We won't discuss the snacks as a few were a little less desirable. Maybe one day I'll take only pics of the things I'd rather not show-that should teach me a lessone!

But see, that's just the point-I'm not perfect, nor will I ever be-AT ANYTHING. I want G to understand that. I want to be able to let the little things that used to stress me out go. Here are some rules I'm learning to live by to make sure I don't fall into the category of the working mothers in that article.

My family needs to be:

• clean
• fed
• clothed
• loved

They/I do not need:

• a spotless house
• three course completely homemade meals
• a stressed out mom/wife because the shower didn't get scrubbed!

For real, is anyone going to love me more because I stayed up late washing counters and picking up every last toy G decide to throw? Am I going to love me more? Of course not. Life is meant to be enoyed, our families and friends are meant to be enjoyed.

And that work stress thing-I'm learning real quick to check it at the door. There is no room for that in my house.

Hand in Hand Habits-Love or Divorce

Some things just go together: Baseball (Go Bucs!!) and hot dogs, peanut butter and jelly (or chocolate!), BBQ and beer...

Hiaw about bad habits-do you have any that go hand in hand? Or maybe you have one that isn't a bad habit, but goes a little too well with one that is? That is just plain tough because you almost have to give up an innocuous thing to rid yourself of the demon it's made friends with. I have a few of these:

• Coffee and baked goods-
• Salad (or sandwiches) and chips-Let's not fool ourselves into thinking just because the word Veggie is on the front of this package that these are anywhere near healthy. And sometimes my choice is more on the side of Doritos (they have so stinkin many flavors now!) and even though these are the "snack" bags, and I rarely eat an entire bag in one meal, the point is that I'm drawn to them every time I have a salad-or sandwich. I can't give those up...

 

• Any celebration and food-For real people, we're not dogs and shouldn't "treat" ourselves with food. But every celebration somehow revolves around it, why is that?

We're not technically begging, but you know we want a treat!

So the trick is to find ways around the 'traps.' Do you avoid one thing to make sure you're not tempted by it's "mate?"

I've talked about the coffee issue before and have started to find suitable subs for all the deliciously white, loaded with sugar baked goods (protein pancakes anyone?) it makes me crave. I've also subbed fake creamer with vanilla soy milk and honestly barely noticed. I'm loving my coffee iced now too and that somehow makes a difference. So, progress made on this one.

The chip problem is a texture thing for me. I'm the one who will put chips in her sandwich and crumble them in my salad instead of croutons! I think I'll always have a chip/cracker problem but making better choices in that area is still a goal.

I say go ahead and be the foodie health nerd that brings the veggie tray or the latest healthy blog recipe you printed to the potluck, if you go home with leftovers all the better (note to self-don't make that cookie pie you were going to take to the reunion this weekend!) UPDATE-I held strong and didn't! Now I have a huge bowl of quinoa salad!

I do have a few habits that will have a long and fruitful *wink* marriage in my life.

• Running and stretching-duh!
• Fruit and Yogurt-hate yogurt w/o it!
• Any celebration and my family-hate most things w/o them!

Celebrate the things you do right and look for little ways to change the ones you don't. Habits are hard to break, but it can be done, and I'm right there with ya. Dorito fingers and all!

Michiganders Invade WV-Part II (MLB Game)

The big finale for Family Adventure 2012 was and MLB game. Detroit Tigers vs. Pittsburgh Pirates. As you can see by the group photo, my little group of 3 is completely outnumbered!

With 4 small kids it's hard to get a good photo, so I set my camera up to take multiple shots at once, hit the timer and ran for my spot. I may have skinned a knee, but look how good we all did :-)

There may have been a few out takes too!!

It was kids day outside PNC Park before the game, but the lines were sooo long to do anything that we headed in after a few obligatory pics. They close this bridge to auto traffic on game days for fans to get over the river. I only had my zoom lens or it would have been a much more interesting photo of my bro and his little men!



We had made sure to watch the Friday and Saturday games in the series on TV. The Pirates took those with relative ease and I was excited to witness a sweep. Of course we had to go on the day Verlander was pitching...

Justin Verlander vs. Andrew McCutcheon-2 All-Stars!

We had great seats in the upper deck above behind home plate. I actually prefer upper deck seats, you can see all the action! And the TV announcers were right ove our shoulders, they throw out great SWAG at the 7th inning stretch; the hubs managed to snag a shirt!

The Tigers got 2 runs in the 1st and then there was a long stretch of pitching duels-yawn. G was very into it though! All the kids got braided Pirates necklaces just like the players wear!

Of course the Pirates chose to score their only runs while I was in line for ice cream. Has anyone noticed that I grab every excuse for ice cream?! So it was a tie game- I got excited and fans started getting out their brooms in anticipation. And then with one hit we were let down. Oh well, 2 outta 3 ain't bad Bucs.

The boys had the opportunity to run the bases after the game, and after standing in an extremely long line in the heat they got their chance. I hope it was a highlight for them since they had hours in a car back home right after!

On a parenting side note, I learned that I am not yet prepared for all day outings with G in tow. I tend to be a minimalist when packing but with a baby you really do need to be prepared for anything. Or at least the regular things...see, I thought I had everything ready; sunscreen, hat, stroller, food, prepared bottles, travel diaper tote...wait where are the diapers? Not a good question to ask when strolling to the ball  park in the middle of downtown Pittsburgh. #new mom failure

Lucky for me my SIL packs everything but the kitchen sink and I was able to borrow (thanks Bethany!) but I still felt just plain dumb. I'll get there with a little more practice!

I have much to learn. But look how far we've come in a year-we went to a game late in the summer last year. What a difference!! I love my little family!

And I love my big family! I have to say that ALL of the kids were great. We are very lucky and I had a great time hosting everyone. It makes me even more grateful every time we're all together. I imagine by the next time it will be even harder to fit in my house since there are bound to me more little ones, and the ones that are little now will just be bigger :-) But I can't wait.

Michiganders invade WV!! Part I

My entire family made the 8 hour drive (well, a few more than that with 3 kids!) from MI to visit us in Wild and Wonderful WV this past weekend. My brother and SIL haven't been here since my wedding in 2008 and we have both added one to our families since then.

I wanted them to have a good time, but not be exhausted when they went home. It was a vacation after all. We chose some good old fashioned putt-putt golf and batting cages for Friday (can I just say that I would love to have every Friday off in the summer-who wouldn't?!)

This guy towered over the course-crazy coal miner!

One cool thing about the putt-putt course was that everything was made from old mining equioment. There were even explanations at each hole to show what the 'obstacle' was once used for. Fun and education all in one! PS-I'm a horrible putt-putter, even though that is one of the better parts of my real golf game :-(

To say my oldest nephew is obsessed with baseball is an understatement so the batting cages were a big hit with him. All 3 generations gave it a whirl, some with more success than others-I'm not naming names.





Generation 1-my dad



Generation 2-my brother



Generation 3-my nephew

 

G hung out on the side lines and played with Gramma Bonnie. I can't resist this litte hat, it somehow makes her even cuter!



Of course we had to follow this with a gluttonous ice cream trip, which I thankfully have no pictures of! Although when the youngest boy discovered how good french fries dipped in ice cream were I kind of wish I had the camera!

Saturday was a stay at home day. My nephew, dad and I made a hike to the little cemetery on our property. I knew it was there but never really explored it.

We counted about 50 headstones, some with names, but the older ones were just upended rocks. The oldest one we could make out was fromt the 1840's. I needed to pull an Indiana Jones and pencil rub the stones to get some more info off them! One of these days I would like to do some research into who these people were, especially now that I've walked all over their resting place!

G got a new pool so we had to give that a trial in the afternoon. It was a hit with the little ones, it was too small for the rest. Although my 13 month old nephew got a little splash happy and scared G, they quickly made up and enjoyed some time together. I can see this getting alot of use this summer.

We also grilled-and I didn't take any pictures of the food because:
#1-my family is not into the 'blog thing' and would think I'm crazy, and more importantly
#2-I ate WAY too much of it.

I've been trying to keep regular workouts since this whole ankle debaucle put my running plans on hold but I think hiking through the woods and chasing kids around counts for something...as for the food-hey I was on stay-cation! :-)

Part II-MLB Game-family style!