Adding to the Family

We recently shared some big news on Facebook:

Bean is going to be a big sister this coming June!

So let me rewind the story back to where it starts in January! ***NOTE - the rest of this post talks about medical issues I had leading up to pregnancy.  If you don't care about the issues or the actual getting pregnant, just skip to the next blog post titled "Sprout"!***

 I started running last winter and got really consistent in December.  By January, I noticed some issues with my menstrual cycle and went to the doctor.  They thought there was a possible bacterial issue going on and put me on antibiotics.  It seemed to fix the problem so I didn't think much about it. I continued my mini-marathon training and increased my mileage in running.  Eventually, I noticed cycle issues creeping back in.  I just chalked it up to the running being stressful on my body and decided I'd go back to the doctor after the mini in May (I mean, what's 2 more crazy cycles by that point??). 

So I ran the mini and stopped running (mainly because I was "ran-out", but also had issues like losing toenails and cycle issues).  Steve encouraged me to take a break because he didn't think the positives of running were outweighing those negatives.  My cycles increased in craziness.  I finally cracked in June and made another appointment.  

So I went to the appointment in June and described how my cycle was all off.  I'd have some slight bleeding when a period was due, but it would turn to spotting, and then I'd randomly have a real period. The length of time of the pre-period bleeding increased from being a few days to being a few weeks by August.  At the June appointment, the doctor did an examine and said that the pre-bleeding could actually be from an irritation from a bacteria in my system (remember, I had that diagnosis and antibiotics only cleared it up for about a month).  I shared my concern with the doctor and he put me on a little bit heavier oral antibiotic this time.  I returned in July for a follow-up.  Antibiotics cleared up the bacteria, but the irregular bleeding remained.  

At the follow-up appointment in July, my doctor was out delivering a baby, so I saw his associate.  She decided that it was possible that my body needed a kick-start to get back onto a normal cycle.  We discussed going on birth control, but Steve and I were starting to toy with the idea of another kid. To me, that would solve my problem (irregular bleeding) -- get pregnant and stop it all together - ha! So she put me on Provera.  It didn't work and actually had some adverse effects.  I ended up waking up in the middle of the night and felt really weird.  My brain was foggy and I couldn't figure out what was wrong.  I went to the bathroom because that was as logical as I could think.  I ended up passing out on the bathroom floor. As quickly as the weirdness came on, I was completely fine after passing out.  I just went back to bed and told Steve in the morning. Haha

So I had a follow-up appointment at the beginning of September (number 4 for the year for those keeping track).  This time, I got to see my actual doctor.  He didn't agree with the Provera route (nice to know after the fact).  He came up with the theory that I wasn't ovulating.  We discussed that we were okay with getting pregnant, and he decided to just go ahead and treat me as infertile, even though it hadn't been a year.  The signs were there and his main goal was to get the bleeding and irregular cycle to stop. So he prescribed Chlomid.  I was to take it on day 5-9 of my cycle.  However, I wasn't positive what my actual cycle was! I was pre-bleeding for 2 weeks leading up to what I called an actual period.  He said go with my gut and choose the "actual period" as day 1.  

Enter time line into play -- day 1 just so happened to be the day we left for our cruise -- Happy Vacation! But since my cycle was a crazy cycle, I was fine by day 3 and enjoyed the cruise immensely! I took the medicine as prescribed days 5-9.  We weren't being intentional about paying attention to days after that (for those of you who don't know and want to know -- typical cycles work in 28 days, you ovulate somewhere in the middle -- day 12-14).  After all the issues of the year, I didn't expect the medicine to work so quickly let alone get pregnant.  

The next couple weeks went by and I realized I didn't have the irregular bleeding I had been having all year - Score!  The medicine worked! However, I did start to notice I wasn't feeling the best.  I told myself it was just side effects from the medicine and to not be crazy.  Well eventually, I started feeling more nauseous and achy.  I told myself it was a period coming, but in reality, I kept thinking, "the last time I felt like this was when I was pregnant with Bean. . . ".  I told Steve my thoughts and he just told me to stop being crazy.  When you take Chlomid, you have to have a blood test to check your levels.  I went and got the blood drawn on Monday and told myself to let the doctor contact me; besides, a period was to start on Friday.  By Wednesday, I was really feeling sick (and crazy!), so I called them.  They said my progesterone level was 60 - typically, they are looking for a number in the teens to indicate ovulation! Yikes.  I panicked. What does a high number mean?!  The nurse just said to wait to see if a period comes and then call back.  

I had told myself no pregnancy tests until a missed period.  We went to church that night and I had to chew gum the whole time because I was so nauseous.  As soon as we got home, I took a test.  I didn't even tell Steve.  If I was being crazy, I didn't want to admit it to him.  I wasn't crazy - the test was positive!  I immediately showed Steve and we just stared at each other - ha!

Indy Mini -- Complete!

This past weekend, I got to cross off "Run a mini-marathon" off my bucket list! I DID it! I *ran* the Indy Mini Marathon in 2hr21min! I emphasized the RAN because I'm proud to say that I NEVER walked! Not even through the water sections.  Of course, I'd slow down, grab a water, and sloppily splash it as I jogged through the area; then I'd speed back up to pace.  But not once did I stop "running" (okay, towards the end, it may been more glorified jogging/walking than running, but I'll get to that. . .

We got into Indiana on Friday night around 8pm.  My mom took charge of putting Bean to bed while I carb loaded on some pizza and hung out.  After Bean went down, I said my goodbyes and headed over to my sister's house around 10.  I had the choice of sleeping at my parents and meeting her around 5am, or just head over the night before.  That sounded easier to me!  I didn't really sleep much that night.  I didn't get to bed til after 11:30. Around 2:30 a cat woke me up - ha; and then again I woke up with my alarm at 4:45! I woke up feeling pretty awake, so I guess that's a good thing.  I geared up in my running stuff, and off we went!

We picked up my sister's friend who lived nearby and made our way to Indy.  We excitedly discussed running strategies, about family and acquaintances (ended up that my sister's friend is close to my friend Julie's -- pictured later -- sister!).  We knew where we wanted to park, but weren't paying close attention to street names, so we ended up missing our turn.  We tried to back track, but some roads were closed due to the races.  So we went with plan B and parked in a parking garage that my friend Bree recommended! 

We put on our Bib numbers, got our running necessities, and lastly put on our trash bag attire.  The day was going to be warm, but it just wasn't warm yet.  So we put trash bags on over us to keep us warm.  People thought we were nuts and we even had some people take our picture, but right before we raced, we ditched the bags and were ready to go! (*Note* some runners will wear old layers and strip as they go.  They will either ditch or have people stationed at certain miles to hand their stuff over.) I run a faster mile than my sister and her friend, so I had plans of running with my friend Bree!  We met up in our correct corral (you are assigned certain starting times, and just so happened all my friends were in the same one!) and ran into other friends from college! We chit chatted a little as the race started and our corral slowly got up to the start line. But once our start time was getting closer, Bree and I broke off form the group and tried to get as far up as possible.  Then it was go time!

(Me, my sister Amber and her friend in our hang out spot -- in front of the port-o-pots for some great people watching!  And proof that we seriously walked the streets of Indy wearing trash bags over us!) 

(Friends from Purdue!  Julie, Bree, Alice & me! We just happened to all find each other in the same corral! We hung out and chit-chatted until the race started.  The first wave started at 7:48, and our wave started at 8:30.  You could hear on speakers as each wave started, and then people moved forward to anticipate the next start.)

(All packed in together waiting for the 8:30 start!  This picture was taken from my sister's view.  Bree and I had already snaked up as far as we could.)

Once our wave started, we were off! We had to do a lot of dodging and running faster than planned in the begging to get around all the "walkers".  After mile 2, we had a good groove going and found better space.  We'd still have to run around people every so often, but it wasn't like it was in the beginning! I felt tired from the get go, but tried to push through.  Bree can run faster than me (I knew that going in) so I tried to keep up with her pace as much as possible.  I'd fall a little behind, and then I'd push to get back up to her.  

I had energy gels to help me out, but didn't plan properly.  I had looked at the course map prior to the race to see how much water and energy supplements would be offered. I didn't realize that the Gatorade endurance spots were just concentrated Gatorade (I thought they'd be energy chews), so hindsight, I wish I had another one of my own gels.  Oh well!  I'd almost always grab water (they offered it at a ton of locations, so there were a couple I skipped).  I took the Gatorade the first couple times, but then realized it was doing me more harm than good.  I fought nausea a lot while running and the Gatorade made me burp and would trigger my gag reflex (tmi?!).  So I stuck to just water! I also had to figure out that after drinking the water, I had to run a little slower (due to tummy) and then could increase back up.  

I had been warned that the "hardest part" of the course would be running on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  We entered the speedway in between mile 5 & 6 and exited between 8 & 9.  Running on the track wasn't hard, it was the sun beaming down on you and no shade to break it up.  About 1/3 way onto the track, I knew I couldn't keep up with Bree.  I tried to stick with her through the motorway finish line (I think she may have lessened to stay with me).  She snapped a quick photo as we left that finish line, and then sped back up.  I knew I couldn't (when I start to sprint or increase speed, I immediately start feeling nauseous!) so I waved for her to keep going.  Through the rest of the speedway, and even exiting, I could see her up ahead.  But then the course started to wind (which was my favorite part because it was shaded with trees!) and I lost sight of her.

(One of my sister's photos.  I never pulled my phone out while running.  I had a strategy of "don't stop - keep going!" This was right before she crossed the motor speedway finish line.  There were a path of bricks that it is tradition to bend down and kiss.  My sister opted to do it, I however just kept going.  How on earth does one bend down and pop right back up and continue running?  Not me! See above strategy!)

(Bree pulled out her phone and snapped a photo of us in the speedway (you can see the finish line banner in between our heads) before we bid adieu.  I don't know why the angle is all weird, and why I look like my neck is freakishly long and attacking Bree.  Even at my complete "I HATE this moment", I still could muster up a smile.)

I thought running on my own would be awful, but really it wasn't too bad.  I kind of just got in a mental zone of focusing on what was ahead.  It was also nice to just set my own pace and not feel guilty over trying to keep up.  I was sad my pace had lessened (I was runinng closer to an 11min mile than my intended 10min). I kept telling myself that time didn't matter, just focus on running and try to enjoy.  There was some entertainment along the course like little bands, bagpipe player, belly dancers, cloggers, and a drumline (just to name a few, there were a ton others).  I didn't listen to any music of my own, just took in the crowd cheers and the music I'd run by.  Our names were on our bibs, so volunteers on the side would call out encouragement to runners by name - pretty cool!  One lady said, "Great job Lindsey, keep it up!" as she handed me water around mile 10, I immediately got tears to my eyes.  I don't know why that triggered my emotions, but it did.  I'm proud to say, those were the only tears I had while running!

I thought the last few miles would be the easiest because you are so close to being done, but for me, they were the hardest! I was just getting so hot and tired.  I started to notice my feet hurting and my legs just felt like lead.  There random spots with water you could run under, and those felt so good! There was also a guy in his yard spraying people with his hose.  I made sure to run nearby and thank him! At mile 12, I was really losing it.  My pace had lessened to being longer than a 12min mile.  I knew I was capable of a 10min mile, but knew I couldn't make it happen.  So I just focused on finishing without walking! (Although, I'll admit, I did give myself permission to just walk the end, but stuck to my guns of - NO! Finish strong!).  The last mile seemed to go on forever! You had to run over this bridge which was sort of inclined and completely open (no shade).  Then you ran down into the IUPUI campus and there were trees lining the streets! Whew! 

Everyone around me was either flat out walking or sprinting towards the end.  There was 1 guy for the last mile that I passed him like 3 times.  He'd sprint then walk, then sprint, then walk, etc.  I maintained my speed and we kept passing back and forth, ha.  I knew Bree had to have been done, so I was looking out to see if she was coming back to run back in with me.  I finally hit mile 13 and just pushed for the last 10th of a mile! I didn't focus on anyone except for crossing that line! I really wanted to finish in 2hr15 min.  Back at mile 12, I knew that wouldn't happen.  I reset my goal for 2hr20min, but as my wathced ticked down that last min, I knew I wasn't close enough to the finish line.  I stopped watching my clock and just honed in on that finish line.  I crossed at 2hr21min38sec.  I'll take it! 

As soon as I crossed, I slowed and starting walking, and boy did it feel weird! My legs felt like they weighed a ton and I knew if I stopped walking, I'd collapse. Hahaha.  So I mosied past all the different stations  -- water first, medal, bag, bananas, pretzels, cliff bar, cookies, fruit cups.  I collected all the items, but couldn't eat a single thing yet.  I bit into my cookie and immediately regretted that decision.  I stopped and called Bree to meet back up.  She was just a little ways ahead, so I found her.  We took our "We did it!" picture and then slowly meandered through the party area to get back up towards the finish area to cheer in our friends.  I had no clue how my sister was doing, or when to start looking out for her.  I thought she'd be about an hour behind me.  So after we found some cold choc milk (which was surprisingly delicious and fine on my tummy) I pulled out my phone and loaded up the mini marathon app. I was able to search my sister and see the last place she clocked in at and her expected finish time.  As I read her info, I realized she was less than 10 min from finishing!

(WOooooohoooooo! We DID it!  I'm seriously so proud of this accomplishment.  Had you told me I'd complete a mini (let alone RUN it and in less than 2.5 hours) I'd never believe you.  But I did it! And I'm proud :)!!)

We got to a stopping point to watch the runners and all of a sudden we saw our friend Alice! I looked up her time and she clocked in a min after my sister at the last check point.  I realized I missed my sister and got all bummed.  I said bye to Bree and walked back to the finishing area to find them.  And then I got notified my sister finished (2hr56min!).  Later, I realized as I was throwing my pity party about missing her, she probably ran by, because Alice's time was a minute faster in the end.  

I met up with my sister and her friend and we circled back for more chocolate milk (for them)! We sort of slowly made our way through the party area and then back to the car.  I had to meet back up with Bree to do a swapsies of items.  Since we parked in the same garage, we just met back up there.  My sister and her friend were gushing all about the mini and all the fun they had.  I felt like a downer because I didn't share in the "fun". There were moments I enjoyed, and running in the beginning was fun with Bree, but really I just hated the running part.  I think I pushed myself too hard.  Although, I've never fully enjoyed running, just more the accomplishment.  So I definitely don't regret the mini, but probably won't be signing up for any in the foreseeable future.

(Winner's Drink Milk! I think we were laughing because it masked the pain, haha! Actually, other than my hips being locked up at first, and my legs being tired, the pain hadn't set in yet.  Just a crazy old lady walk.)

(Post Race fun! I was on the phone with Bree arranging  our last meet up of the day, haha! So my sister's friend is hilarious and crazy all at the same time.  As Amber and I are gimping through the runner's party area, she's jumping around saying, "Let's go run some more!". Uhm, no crazy.)

Sitting in an air conditioned car was AMAZING after all that running. Haha.  We headed home, but had to make a lunch stop at Chik-fil-a. I really wasn't hungry, and my tummy still felt all weird, but that lunch tasted amazing! I just couldn't eat my normal amount.  We dropped my sister's friend off and headed back to her house.  There we changed, showered, and moaned - haha.  I quickly assessed my feet to discover they were full of blisters (I later counted 9).  My knees also were hurting really bad.  I wasn't prepared for how crummy I'd feel that evening.  I knew I'd be sore and had been warned Sunday would be awful.  But really, the worst part was Saturday night.  I had had zero issues with my knees in all my training, but that night, I could barely bend them.  I knew once I stopped for the evening I was a goner.

So I stayed up and walking as much as possible.  Amber and I took our girls to the playground for a little bit before dinner.  Steve had spent the whole day watching Bean with my brother-in-law Chris.  My mom was gone all morning for a dress rehearsal (she's in charge of the kids choir at church). She returned after Bean's nap and took over.  Chris and Steve then went to Chris's house to work on a project (I actually saw Steve there before I got my shower, haha).  The guys came back around dinner time.  That's when it really hit me how bad I was hurting.  I took some medicine and finally sat down with my legs propped up.  My nieces took over entertaining Bean (they even bathed her!) and then my mom put her to bed.  You would have thought that I'd want to sleep after having such a long hard day, but I didn't go to bed til after 10, and couldn't fall asleep until after 11! Too much excitement (or too much pain)?! 

(What a good aunt!  She's returning all those favors I've done for her girls through the years.  There's no way I was going to attempt to sit on a swing let alone pump my legs to make it move.)

(Look! I can run in mommy's shoes!)

On Sunday, I woke up to no pain -- just very sore muscles! Whew! I could walk (kind of like an old lady walk), but my knees would bend and they didn't hurt.  We packed up and headed out early so that we could go meet up with our college friends in Indy before heading back to Ohio.  We hung out at their house for awhile, went and got Kolache Factory for "lunch", went to a park and let the kids run around, and got ice cream at Broad Ripple Ice Cream Station just off the Monon (a neat bike/pedestrian path).  We made Bean stay awake longer than normal, so she crashed hard in the car on the way home.  Her head kept bopping around (you'd think there'd be some great car seat invention to help keep a sleeping toddler's head up!) so I'd try to push it back every once in awhile.  My pestering woke her up, otherwise she would've slept longer.  The rest of the car ride was annoying. Ha!  I was tired of being stuck sitting (my muscles ached and my head hurt) and Bean was also complaining a ton.  Steve did a great job getting us home and he even went out and got us Chipotle for dinner! Yum!

(The ONLY photo I took of our college friends -- just the kids! They had a ball playing together!)

Running Update

A few weeks ago, I bit the bullet and bought a treadmill.  I hadn't ran since the middle of January and with the longest winter ever happening, I decided it was needed to get my half marathon training started.  I was able to buy the treadmill with my Jamberry/babysitting money (which I'm pretty proud of!).  Since it was bought with my "hard-earned" money, I have more motivation to get down there and use! 

We bought the treadmill off Amazon.  It was the #1 best seller and looked like it would fit my needs.  It is a little smaller than I would like, but it works well for me (just maybe not so much for Steve).  We decided to place it in the basement and so far it is working great!  I run down there during Bean's nap time.  Even though I'd rather get up and run first thing (but I'm not motivated enough to wake up before Bean does, haha), I've gotten into a nice routine and enjoy the mid-day workout.  

(Running gear - Check! Treadmill - Check! Cute cheerleader - Double check!)

(She wanted to stand with me, but definitely didn't like it being on!)

I looked online and found a training plan from Hal Higdon's website (he was recommended to me from a couple different people).  I took his novice 1 half marathon plan and tweaked it a little bit for my own schedule.  I run 4 days a week -- Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, & Saturday.  The current plan is to do treadmill during the week and sneak an outside run on the weekend.  However, so far, that hasn't happened. Ha!  I ran with Bean outside one Monday (but it was really tiring to push her in the stroller!) and then I also got in another run on a weekday all by myself! I did a "run swap" with my friend Sara.  I watched her baby (well, I watch him a few days, but she added on some time with him at my place one day so she could go run).  When she came to pick him up, she stayed with him and Bean so that I could go run.  It was great!

(My training plan. Week 4 starts TODAY.  Yikes!  Only 5 weeks til the mini.  I'm so terrified!)

The training is going really well and appreciate everyone who is helping to keep me accountable.  This is the 1st time I've really set forth a goal of this magnitude and have stuck with it.  I'm one to usually come up with some sort of workout plan, and then quit after 6 weeks.  Even though I had a couple months off in the winter, I've been pretty consistent in running for almost 8 months now! Whoa.  I guess some may actually call me a runner (although I still call myself crazy).  My mile times were pretty rough after the winter break, but I'm now shaving off time and am back to my 10 / 10:30 min per mile pace (outside is more like 10 min, treadmill more like 10:30).  

(My little training coach helping me with my plan.  How can you not trust someone in a Broncos jacket?)

(I've also replaced some of my daily soda with Powerade.  Mainly just to feel better about my other eating options.  I am not a dieter and in no way will give up my oreos, chocolate, potato chips, etc from my day, haha! But with just the small changes I've made, and running 4 times a week, I've dropped a few pounds.  I'd love to lose some more, but my real goal is just being more active and making healthier decisions.  Plus, with as fast as this little cutie walks, I'll have to sprint to keep up with her when she runs!)

New Year, New Us

There's a week left in January, and I just released the Christmas post I wrote 2 weeks ago, and there's been no mention of the new year or a Bean update.  I haven't been neglecting the blog because nothing is going on, the reality is life is crazy right now and the blog is a complete after thought.  So instead of trying to do multiple posts trying to catch up, a quick bullet point list is more like it!

• No real new year resolutions for us besides the typical "let's be better this year than last year!".  We have goals to be healthier, putting Christ first in our lives, being focused and hands-on parents, and making wise choices with our finances.
• I've been blessed with the opportunity to make some money while staying home with Bean.  I became a Jamberry consultant a couple months ago and just had goals of breaking even.  After a very successful launch and great sales this month; I have to set new goals for the year! This is a very exciting, yet time consuming opportunity.  When you love something, you want to talk about it all the time -- and poor Steve is sick of hearing about "Jam-beep".  
• I've also been blessed with another opportunity -- babysitting!  2x a week, I get the opportunity to hang out with my friend Sara's sweet boy James!  He's 2 months old and quite the cutie! I wasn't sure how it would go with Bean and a baby in the house at the same time, but it's going great! I'm still trying to work out the logistics of getting James to sleep in the pack'n'play and how to meet the needs of both of them at the same time. Bean LOVES James.  She wants to touch him, hold him, and kiss him constantly.  She's probably sending us subliminal messages about wanting a sibling. . . 
• I'm still running but I'll have to admit the winter cold is winning out.  I've only logged 3 runs this month (and a solid 2 week break of no running!).  I was finally able to get out this week and pull out a 4 mile run after that 2 week hiatus.  I survived the run and my times were just about what they were last month.  I'm not worried about mini-training yet; but when I realized that mini is 3 months away, I had a minor freakout.  What am I thinking?!
• On a negative side - I've been dealing with a pretty stressful situation with someone. I won't go into details, but it's been a big part of my month and affects my thoughts and actions in certain situations.  I am definitely learning a lot about myself, how actions can be perceived, and how by God's grace I am free!
• Steve's role has changed at work.  The new role came with a promotion and new responsibilities.  After having him home and access to him 24/7 for those 2 weeks of break; I had a hard reality of him returning to work at the beginning of the month.  I forgot how hard it was to make contact with him while he works and just overall miss his presence in the house during the day.  
• Over Christmas, all 4 of Bean's molars came in.  That left us with a very cranky and sleep-hating child.  In 3 weeks, she'd only slept through the night 3 times.  All those other nights consisted of her waking up every.other.hour. Seriously kid - you are killing your Momma!  Her sleep was worse than James - the 2 month old baby I watch! We had a turning point this week and got 3 nights of sleep in a row; and then she got shots.  Now we're back to the multiple wakings. Ugh.
• Now the update you've all been waiting for -- Bean is a WALKER! How exciting! A couple of weekends ago, it just clicked with her.  She took a couple steps on her own, but once she realized Momma/Daddy wanted her to do it; she stopped. She'd randomly take a few steps, but definitely preferred her "knee shuffle" as we so lovingly call it.  She's not 100% walking, but each day she takes more and more steps.  I'd say she's up to 65% walking in her day.  Let's face it -- her knee shuffle is way more efficient than walking, but it won't be long when she'll stop the knee shuffle all together.  
• Other Bean accomplishments:
• "Signs" for "more" when she needs milk or a snack
• Blows bubbles
• Can say -- Momma, Daddy, ball, duck, cracker, baby, "chhhh" for lunch, go!, "go goooo" for Let it Go/Frozen, dog, Mommom, Poppop, Ahm, Abo, "cheese" whenever you pull out your phone, Hi/Bye
• Gives kisses with a "mmmmmm"
• Loves to play with -- Zebra ride toy, Little People playsets, blocks, wooden puzzle pieces, toting toys around in a bag, climbs on chairs, babydolls, & Sock Monkey in a box, and ducks in the bathtub 
• Loves to watch -- Frozen, Curious George, Sesame Street, Clifford
• Loves to eat -- strawberries, mac'n'cheese, noodles in general, cottage cheese, fruit/veggie pouches, Momma's bagels, milk 
• She knows when it is time to leave by us putting coats on.
• She constantly is getting in trouble over dropping food, standing on chair, and touching the lamp.
• Has discovered the game of "Peek-a-Boo"

(Bean's chair is back in the living room! She is able to get in and out of it on her own and we don't have to worry about her getting hurt on it. However, she does get crazy sometimes and decides to stand in it.  We give her a couple chances to sit.  After number 3, she usually loses chair privilege and it exits the room.)

(Catching her character in its prime.  She really is a hilarious child.  Problem is, she knows she is funny and uses that hilarity against us.)

("Just putting my snack in the crevice of my milk cup.")

(We don't let Bean have paci's when she is playing.  Although, every once in awhile, one does get lost in the toys or she'll be having a rough day with teeth and I let her suck on it.  However, here, she's sucking on her baby doll's paci.  Although, it's just a tiny little post that she really has to suck on to keep it in her mouth.)

(I like this photo for the sheer the reminder that this kid does in fact sleep.  And I'm pretty sure I took this photo after her fighting nap for over an hour.  In the midst of a phase of no sleeping and bad naps, I need this reminder! Some days are better than others.  We'll have a day of a 3+ hour nap, and then a day like today where she didn't even get an hour.  She'll have nights where she's up every other hour, or maybe for a couple hours straight, or maybe randomly sleeps through the night.  If only she would let me know what her sleeping mood would be in advance!)

(Sitting in daddy's chair!)

(Laying on James!)

(Holding his hand)

(She wasn't happy until she got to actually hold him!)

(Playing Peek-A-Boo with the drapes.)

(While taking down Christmas decor, I heard her playing in the corner and turned around to see her inside the Jumper! I hadn't put her in there!  I have no idea how she did it, but she climbed in by herself.  Notice her missing leg? It was pinned under her bum, haha.)

(Bean eating her favorite meal - mac'n'cheese, cottage cheese, strawberries & raspberries. And yes, she still eats in "the rain jacket".)

(I've been waiting for this day -- for Bean to realize she can escape the play area by crawling under the couch.  Good thing the she didn't fully commit and freaked out halfway.  She was scarred by the experience of getting stuck, Momma laughing and taking a picture to never want to try the escape ever again.)

Cleveland

At the beginning of December, Steve took a day off work and we headed up to Cleveland for a long weekend.  We spent the first day seeing  a few sites around the city while waiting for our good friends Mitch & Alice to get off work and spend the rest of the weekend with them!

We first stopped at West Side Market.  It's a little Market where you can buy fresh food (meat, produce, etc) or they also have some little dessert booths or some "fast" food options.  We walked around a few times in search of what they had to offer.  Right away, Steve spotted a bratwurst but I was hoping to find something I could split with Bean.  Several minutes, many laps, and still no food, I finally got a bratwurst, too and just fed Bean pieces of bread.

(Trying to find food at West Side Market)

After lunch, we drove over to Viaduct Park.  It was a beautiful little park kind of hidden in the middle of the city.  It used to be the site of a working mill, but now is just a stream and tunnel. After the park, we had to make a pit-stop at a McDonald's for a potty break! That was the big downfall of the day. No restrooms at any of our stops, we will definitely plan that one better next time.  We then headed to our friends' house.

(Bean trying to figure out why on earth we are out in the cold.)

(That tunnel used to be the site of a big turbine/saw mill)

We feasted on a delicious dinner of pizza and macaroni & cheese (our friend works for Nestle and shared with us some of her perks!).  After dinner, we moved Bean's car seat into their awesome mini-van, loaded everyone up (4 adults & 3 kids) and headed to the Stan Hywet estate in Akron. The estate was decked out with Christmas lights! You could walk around the grounds through some of the lights and also got to go through the mansion that was decked out in Christmas stuff.  The weather wasn't the greatest, it was cold and rainy, but we made the best of it.  One of Steve's friends from college Blake brought his wife and met up with the group.  It was fun getting to see everyone again!

(Bean's first encounter with Santa! She was unfazed by the meeting.)

(Our group trying to stay dry. We finally decided it was inevitable to get wet and ventured through the rest of the grounds.)

(The Stan Hywet main house on the estate)

(So pretty yet so much rain! If only it was snowing!)

(I carried Bean around the whole time in the carrier. We knew strollers weren't welcomr in the bug house and thought it best to just keep her contained against me.)

(Last two cars in the parking lot!)

After literally shutting down the estate, we headed back to Mitch/Alice's place for the night.  The next morning, we woke up and scrambled to get everything pulled together.  We needed to be out the door by a certain time so that Alice and I could meet up with her co-workers so that we could run the A Christmas Story 5k!  We may not have left the house at the desired time, but it all worked out.  We met up with her co-workers, got to the starting line, and talked strategy before it was race time.  Some of the group wanted to walk while a few (3 of us!) wanted to legitly run.

The race started and we made plans to meet up at the finish line.  I ran with Alice's 2 co-workers Esther & Erin.  Esther was a little crazy and darting in and out of all the other runners.  About 1/4 of the way in, Erin and I decided we couldn't keep up with Esther and we'd just be each other's running buddies.  I was definitely running faster than I was used to, but I was still able to keep up.  We couldn't find the mile markers and were just having to guess how much longer we had.  We were behind the 10 min pile pace guy.  At around the 18 min mark, we knew we had to at least be over halfway.

The route itself was nothing special.  It did start in downtown Cleveland, and we got to run over a historic bridge; however, after that it was just running through neighborhoods basically.  The point of the race was to run to the house that A Christmas Story was used in the film.  The area is really run down and proceeds from the race are helping to build the area back up.  The run got boring other than seeing people in costumes and the occasional kid sprinting by us.  Erin saw a marker for mile 3, so we knew we were close.  We rounded a corner and low & behold, there stood Steve, Mitch and the kids.  They finally spotted me and started cheering.  They were on the final street and we could see the finish line in sight.

(I'm in all black with crazy pink/yellow shoes- right behind the person in blue/green. Erin is just to my right. Homestretch!!)

Erin said, "Let's sprint!" I said sure and started to, but my body had different ideas.  I immediately started heaving.  Yes, heaving! I had to cup my hand to my mouth (I lessened my pace but kept running, after all that finish line was so close!) and I began to plot where on earth to throw up at.  Erin took off and looked back, but I waved her on.  I saw a trash can just past the finish line.  I heaved a few more times but kept the contents down (lovely, right?).  I made it to the trash can but my body had settled down by then and I was okay (I guess I shouldn't have eaten 2 banana muffins right before running, my mistake).  My official time was 29:56 -- what?!  That put my average pace around 9min40sec per mile.  The fastest I have ever been able to run is just over a 10min mile!  I'll take it!  Erin beat me by a few seconds.  She came in 487th place, and I came in 498th place out of 2388 people! Wooo! We waited at the finish line for the rest of the girls to finish up.

(Waiting on the last girls! Alice is super excited in the link all the way to the left.)

(The group after we were all done! There was an error in the medal shipment and Alice got the 2nd to last medal! Whew!! Anyone after her time was shipped a medal later.)

(Bean celebrating Mommy's PR)

I was done at that point, so the guys, the kids, and I headed to the van (my tummy was still a little queasy and I was read to sit!).  Alice hung with her coworkers just a bit longer and then met back up with us at the van.  From there, we headed to an amazing hot dog place for lunch.  At Happy Dawg, you got to build your own hotdog!  Steve's toppings included pork & beans, spaghettios, and mac'n'cheese (just to name a few).  I went with chili, mac'n'cheese, a pickle spear, and sauteed onions.  I shared with Bean and she ate all my mac'n'cheese.  After lunch, we headed to a famous candy store that claims to be the largest.  I'd believe that it holds the largest variety of candy.  If you can think of it, it was probably there.

(The best hot dog in the world. Well, 2nd to mine - I had chili instead of spaghettios on it.)

(Just what we wanted to do, eat hot dogs after running! And look how adorable Libby is. She insisted on sitting in the booth next to Steve and right beside Bean.)

(Bean scored a free candy cane from the candy store. It was her first and she loved it. She's in the Ergo carrier again. I had hopes of her transferring from asleep in the car to asleep in the carrier. Ya, right.)

From the candy store, we had to make a quick stop at a Walmart to buy one of the kids some shoes (and since Bean isn't walking, you can do the math on who needed them).  We then headed to Brandywine Falls to walk around and see a big waterfall.  It was pretty cold, but once we got down by the rocks, we were shielded by the wind.  We loaded back up in the van and drove to another area in the park to see a beaver marsh.  It was too cold for beavers, but we ventured out anyways.  I was getting pretty cold and Bean was due for a nap, so we called it a day and headed back to the car.

(Bundle Bag Buddies)

(Alice braved wearing Libby in my carrier. How awesome is that thing? And check out that waterfall!)

(Learning about Beavers at Beaver marsh. You had to continuously turn a crank to hear the info.)

From the park, we headed to dinner at Melt Bar and Grilled.  They are known for their crazy grilled cheese sandwiches.  Steve got a mac'n'cheese grilled sandwich, while I got a spicy pulled chicken grilled sandwich. As we left the restaurant, Steve's friend Blake just happened to be driving by.  We were actually headed over to his house so Steve randomly decided to jump in the car.  Bean and I crawled back into the van and we headed to Blake's.  Alice and I decided we had had enough taken the kids in and out of the car and since it was close to bedtime, we would call it a night and head back to their house.  Blake, Mitch, and Steve stayed and had a "jam session".  They played all sorts of crazy songs using Blake's band set up. The didn't come back to the house until almost midnight! I crashed once they got home.

The next morning, we got up and decided to go out for breakfast.  We were going to go to a local brunch place, but it was too busy. So we ended up at a Bob Evan's where we were entertained by a balloon animal guy.  The kids were loving it! Mitch and Alice had tickets to a big football game and had a sitter coming at 11 to watch to the kids (that sitter just happened to be my running pal Erin!).  We didn't leave Bob Evans until after 11, haha, ooops!

(Bean got a monkey in a tree from the hilarious balloon guy.)

We got back to their house, packed all of our stuff up, and then hit the road to return home.  On the way back, we took a different route and made a stop in Huron, OH.  That's where Steve's grandparents & dad grew up.  We made a stop at their gravesite, drove by the old house, and made an extra special stop at Toft's Dairy for some ice cream.  Mmmmmm, it was as good as we remembered it! We got home just in time for me to make it to choir cantata practice, unpack, repack, and hit the road for Cincinnati the next morning!

(Getting to "visit" Grammy & Grandpa)

(We did an awkward drive by and snap a quick picture of their old house. The new owner was in the yard. I really wanted to chat and tell him who we were, but Steve wouldn't have my shenanigans. Maybe next time.)

(Tofts! Need I say more?)

(Sharing ice cream with us. I got pumpkin & Steve got cookie dough. Pretty neat to think about Bean being 4th generation Ackerman to enjoy the ice cream!)

(When we got home, we discovered Bean had mastered climbing onto our footstool. Now it is "outside the gate". And don't worry, she only had the balloon under our supervision!)