Run Like The Wind

... I wish I could run like the wind, but I'm actually a pretty slow jogger. I don't really enjoy running, but I do it because I know it's a great form of exercise and I like the challenge. Long before I got pregnant I talked to a couple girls who had run right up until their due date. I thought it was so awesome that they could do that, but never thought that I would be that person. (I wasn't that person, by the way, but just hear me out.) Then, my friend Cathryn recommended the book Exercising Through Your Pregnancy and I resolved that I would exercise throughout my entire pregnancy. The book recommends regular, high intensity workouts and I got a lot of flack for doing it, but studies show that it really is beneficial for both mom and baby. Being that I don't really enjoy running, my workouts usually consist of the elliptical or step aerobics, and I throw in one run a week, but I got it in my head that I would run up until Parker was born, and I was even training for a half marathon when I got pregnant and then continued with the training until about week 10 when it got to be too exhausting. After that, I dropped my runs to once a week, and because I was running so infrequently and my center of gravity was changing so rapidly, I don't think my muscles were able to get the conditioning that they needed in order for me to keep it up. My shins burned through every run and by week 36 I just couldn't take it anymore. Even though I badly wanted to have that bragging right, I thought, "Why am I torturing myself??" So, the running stopped, but I continued with the other exercise.

After my c-section I couldn't exercise for six weeks and even after that when I would jog very short distances, like to make it across the street before the light turned red, my incision area felt like it was going to fall right out of my body. I stuck to the elliptical until last Saturday - my first run in four months! It was so much easier than it had been at 36 weeks. My body was sore afterward, but it was one of those hurt-so-good type of things. Anyway, Parker had a doctor's appointment this week and he cleared him for the jogging stroller, so off we went! I LOVE our jogging stroller!!! It's a B.O.B. that we got from Paul's parents for Christmas. I think Parker enjoyed our outing. Let's see what he thinks...

blast from the past

Paul's dad sent us some pictures of Paul from long, long ago. We had a good laugh going through them all...

I think I've mentioned this before, but if you haven't seen Paul and his childhood friend Sam together in the same room, you're really missing out. They really feed off each others' silliness. You know how they say that twins have a special connection? I think Paul and Sam have a similar connection- they're interactions are an endless web of inside jokes and a humor that I think most people don't understand. Anyway, here are some pictures from a photo shoot they did. Their idea was that they were going to put these pictures in a portfolio to send to Hollywood and make it big time. Notice the glass of "wine" in almost every photo. They thought it would make them seem more refined.

Geriatric Baby

I wonder if this is what Parker will look like when he's 100 years old...

Just Cruisin'

Parker Dancing

... or trying to escape... or really confused about how his body works...

Best. Baby. EVAH!!!

Two nights ago, Parker slept through the night!!! I fed him Tuesday night at 8:00 and we put him down to bed at 9:15. It took him a couple rounds of soothing, but eventually he went to sleep around 10:00. I woke up the next morning at 5:00 and thought something was wrong with the clock- why hadn't he woken up to eat? For the past week the trend has been that I'll feed him around 8:00 or 9:00pm, then he'll wake up around 12:00 or 1:00am and just need to be soothed back to sleep (no eating), and then he'll be ready to eat around 3:00am. So when he hadn't woken up at all and it was 5:00am I was a little freaked. I went to his bedroom door... errr closet door... (yes, he sleeps in a closet) and listened for breathing. He was breathing all right, but still fast asleep. I went back to bed but couldn't fall asleep because I was so excited! My little baby of not even seven weeks slept through the night! He finally woke up at 6:00 to eat and was as pleasant as could be. What a happy mama I am.

Here's what the best baby in the world looks like:

Six Weeks

In about 12 hours, Parker will be six weeks old, which means that it has been 42 days since I've slept more than a three hour stretch. Parker doesn't seem to mind waking so often, but it sure wears on his mama. It's funny how if anyone else were the cause of this, I would probably be upset with them, but who could get mad at those kissable cheeks? Similarly, he does many things that would be inappropriate for other people to do but are completely acceptable and adorable for him, such as belching, tooting, peeing on the wall, and today he even pooped on me. I'm wondering when I'll stop thinking this is cute.

One of Paul's favorite things is to pretend that Parker is an adult and can do "big boy" things. For example...
Channel Surfing:

Eating Cake:


Talking on the Phone:

Watching March Madness: