Jakub Family

It's ours!!!

2012-02-17T07:44:00.001-06:00

This week has been excitement then heartache then excitement! We got the house!

Inspection is later today so more info (and of course pictures) to come!

House hunting update

2012-02-13T20:20:00.001-06:00

This process is stressful! Nothing is "perfect" so far. Too far, too expensive, no wood floors, too ugly wood floors...... Whew.

Our previous top contender was a no-go for many reasons. This is our current top contender. We love almost everything about it. It's a bit more expensive than what we wanted but our realtor thinks we can get the price down in our range pretty easy.

If we have no additional finds tomorrow, we will probably put in an offer!

Sorry for the bad pic, but this is being written from my phone. ;)

Funny!

2012-02-11T13:59:00.001-06:00

I follow a funny blog called "Crazy Working Mom" and this was posted the other day. Too funny!

(I personally think the second photo is pretty cute too, but it still made me laugh!)

What you get for the money...

2012-02-07T20:11:00.000-06:00

We are heading to Fairfax next week to find a house! We are traveling through Omaha and will be "handing over" Isaac to the grandparents for the week. Nervous.... excited... all kinds of emotions. This is the first time we have both left Isaac overnight. Eek!

Have you seen that show on HGTV called "What you get for the money?". During the show, they pick a price range and compare the homes you could across the country for that amount of money.

So, here's the Kim version of "What you get for the money...".

Houston, TX (our current city):
According to Zillow.com for a certain sum of money, you could get this 5,000 sq foot home on a golf course.

Fairfax, VA
For the same price in Fairfax, VA you get this house (built in 1964).

This house is at the top of our list because it is the cheapest house in the location we want and has a garage (most homes have no garage at all). We are hoping it doesn't sell before next week. Crazy, huh?

New Adventures

2012-02-06T20:42:00.000-06:00

We knew it was coming... and it's here. We are moving to Fairfax, VA!

We have loved Houston... and Houston has been good to us. We are sad to leave but at the same time looking forward to a change of scenery. Fairfax is just outside Washington, DC. If you take the metro, it's about a 15-20 min ride into the National Mall area. We are looking forward to taking Isaac to all the Smithsonian museums!

There are lots of ways you can pray for us over the coming month:

We find a house that meets our needs but is within the budget we've discussed (housing is VERY expensive).
The house is available soon. If there is a gap in when the house is available and when I need to be in my new position, I will have to live in a hotel and fly back to TX on the weekends. :(
Bryce can figure out employment options quickly
We find a great daycare for Isaac. We are looking at one called the Merritt Academy. It's close to the house and we had a good recommendation from one of my co-workers.
Our house sells! We are lucky in that if our house doesn't sell within 60 days, my company buys it. However there are financial incentives to get it sold, so we are hoping for that. :)
We can find a church quickly and feel comfortable in the fellowship
We meet new friends quickly! I have a couple coworkers/friends that recently relocated to Fairfax so we will have a few friends but hoping to meet more soon!
I enjoy my new position. I've been in a plant environment for almost 9 years and am comfortable. My new office is "business formal" (like, having to wear suits to work) and will be a big change.
Similar to above, my new position is called a "Planning Advisor". Seriously... what is that???? Please pray that I can understand my new position and acclimate quickly. (Also praise that this position is NOT on call! Goodbye Blackberry and hello to a stable/predictable schedule!)

We are very excited and looking forward to the new adventure. We will miss our friends dearly, but luckily some of them have friends/family in the DC area so we will get to see them periodically.

I will do my best to keep everyone updated as progress through the moving process!

Oh J Crew, what have you done...

2012-01-31T20:41:00.001-06:00

IPhone pic from the catalog I got today.

I think the caption could have stopped at the word "Don't".

Spoon training

2012-01-31T07:41:00.001-06:00

Lately we've been trying out a spoon with some meals. Isaac seems to understand what he needs to do but isn't coordinated or patient enough to be efficient and ends up... Well see for yourself! ;)

Jakub Visit to TX!

2012-01-30T13:24:00.000-06:00

We were lucky to have Justin, Jill and Grant visit us last weekend. Grant and Isaac had fun playing together! Last night we were Skyping with them and Grant told Isaac he missed him. It was stinkin adorable!

Here are a few pictures from their visit. Justin and Jill hadn't done 3 year pictures for Grant so I tried to take a few for them. Enjoy!

At the Houston Children's Museum:

Fun at the park:

At the beach!

Olympic Trials

2012-01-29T13:12:00.002-06:00

The day before I ran the marathon, Houston hosted the Olympic Marathon Trials. The top 3 men and top 3 women would be running for the USA in the London Olympics!

You had to qualify to run in the trials. 2:40 for women and 2:20 (I think) for men. Seriously fast! Thats like a 6 min mile for 26.2 miles!

We had to go downtown to pickup our race packets for Sunday so we went early and enjoyed watching about 30 minutes of the trials. We got to see the women pass through to their 3 lap of the course and we got to see the men finish!

I'm not familiar with all the olympic runners but I knew Ryan Hall, Shalane Flanagan, Kara Goucher and Deena Kastor. I was definitely a little star-struck seeing them in person. :)

I took a couple pictures of the runners. They didn't turn out great but you get the idea.

When the men were on their final lap, several men in the Army lined up down the home stretch. Closer to the finish line, Marine's were lined up. It was really cool to see. The crowd support was great, too!

In the pack of 3, Shalane is in the middle and Kara in the back (blue tops). Fun fact: Kara Goucher has a son about a week older than Isaac. What an inspiration!

Ryan Hall

The winner of the men's trial. I can't remember his name but came down the home stretch waiving a US flag and going nuts. It was awesome!

26.2 again!

2012-01-28T13:11:00.000-06:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks but this is finally a slow weekend so I can catchup!

On January 15th I ran my second full marathon! I finished in 4:18 which was quite a bit slower than I was hoping but it was still fun and I love the medal!

The night before the race I could sleept (as usual!). I was excited/nervous and fell asleep somewhere around 3am... which made the 5am alarm a little rough.

Despite my 2 hours of sleep, the race started well and at the half marathon point my time was exactly 2:00 so I was on pace to meet my 4:05 goal!

Things started to deteriorate pretty quickly around mile 18. I'm not sure what happened because I had some really strong training runs anywhere from 18-21 miles and didn't tire out at all... maybe that was the lack of sleep kicking in. Who knows...

Anyways, at mile 18 I was not in good shape and ended up doing a run/walk until about mile 21.5. Bryce finished the half marathon then drove out to Memorial Dr to catch me during the last 6 miles. Man, was I glad to see him! I was in tears, explicit language was coming out of my mouth and I just wanted to quit. I had trained SO HARD for 6 months and blew it.

As usual, Bryce was so great and walked with me for a couple minutes. He pumped me up and got me motivated again. He helped me stretch for a minute then I took off running again and ran the rest of the way!

I really thought I would finish slower than my previous time but I ended up setting a new PR by 3 min!

I still get disappointed some times but then I pause and remember... um, I RAN A MARATHON! TWICE!!

Why its addicting I don't know because it's so painful at times, but I just can't stop! :)

I haven't figured out how to "print screen" on the iMac so the pictures they took during the race will just have to wait! But here are a few from our phones.

Isaac and I at the Marathon Expo on Saturday

My bib

Walking through GRB after the race:

Not a great picture... but at least I'm smiling after running 26.2!

My bling! :)

What I did the rest of the day

Christmas!

2012-01-11T20:15:00.000-06:00

I accidentally left my memory card in my Dad's computer in Nebraska.... so, he had to mail it to us and I just got it this week. Whoops! :)

We had such a blast in Nebraska for Christmas. It was so much fun enjoying the time with family and we were glad Isaac got to spend a ton of time with his cousin, Grant.

When we got to Nebraska, we spent the first 4 days with the Jakub's. Here are few pictures from the time we spent there (BTW, love the new camera!):

Grant! (3 1/2)

Jakub family on Christmas Eve after church:

The only picture of the 3 of us during the entire trip... and Bryce's head is cut off.

Opening gifts in our PJ's! (Justin and Grant)

Family PJ picture

We spent the second half of our trip at my Dad's house. My sister Ali was there too, but unfortunately Christine and Kevin couldn't make it back since they spent all their vacation on their wedding and honeymoon. It just wasn't the same without them there, but at least we got to Skype.

Isaac and his rocking horse from Grandpa

I think someone loved the boxes more than the gifts!

My Grandma Osborn, my Dad and Isaac

My Dad and Isaac... he loooooves his Grandpa!

Isaac in the chair that was my Dad's when he was little

Isaac was overwhelmed with toys from Christmas from the Grandparents (not sure how we feel about that!). We actually had to put several in the closet for a later date.

My sweet husband got me a pair of riding boots (the fun, tall ones... love them with my skinny jeans!) and a Kate Spade purse I had been eyeing. He's always so thoughtful. :) I got him an Apple TV... which is awesome by the way!!

So fun to spend the holidays with family. Neither of us loved the overwhelming gifts for Isaac... how do you embed the true meaning of Christmas with the truckloads of toys that are distractions?!?!? Oh well, I suppose that is what Grandparents are supposed to do! :)

Mercury Glass

2012-01-10T13:40:00.001-06:00

I've recently become obsessed with Mercury Glass. I love these from Pottery Barn, but they are not longer available (and were about $250 for the set... eek!). If anyone knows of another good place to find pretty mercury glass candlesticks... let me know!

I found these lamps at High Fashion Home. I'm thinking about doing something different with our bedroom and these are an idea for our night table lamps. I currently have a weird lamp from college and Bryce doesn't have one at all. Ha!

Christmas Project

2012-01-09T13:12:00.002-06:00

I mentioned in this post that after I replaced my broken sewing machine I made a camera bag. Before Christmas, I got a new camera and lens. My camera bag was not large enough to accomodate the new stuff so I needed a different one.

I wanted a "fun" camera bag. You know, one of the new trendy camera bags that isn't huge and black and look like a camera bag. I found a few online, but with a $200+ price tag I was hoping to find an alternative.

I came across a pattern to MAKE a camera bag on Etsy! Fun! So while we were in Nebraska, I was able to make it and I love how it turned out (although admittedly I'm not 100% finished yet... there are couple small raw edges I need to close by hand). At about a $30 investment between the pattern and fabric, the price was right too.

The only thing I'm really disappointed about is that the spray adhesive I used to make sure the foam didn't move around over time soaked through the grey canvas fabric in a few places and left small stains. :( I've been researching online some different ways to remove the stains but haven't tried any yet. If you have any ideas, let me know!

If Heaven Was a Fabric Store...

2012-01-08T19:48:00.001-06:00

... it would be High Fashion Home!!!

I'm fairly positive we will not live in Houston forever and when we move someday, High Fashion Home will be sorely missed.

High Fashion Home is a 4-level fabric and home decor store. When I walk in I feel like I'm suddenly way more stylish and trendy than I actually am. Seriously, just being in this place makes you feel trendy.

I love to go and just walk around to find inspiration for my next room to redecorate. There are rows and rows across 4 floors of the most fabulous fabrics I've ever seen!

I went there last weekend looking for some chevron fabric for a different project and walked out with the most fabulous ivory textured fabric. I painted our office a light blue/grey last year and haven't gotten around to making any pillows for the sofa. I wanted something feminine but just hadn't found the right fabric yet.

I've made one pillow but ran out of the cheap liner fabric I was using (thought I had enough!) so I haven't finished the other one yet. I love how the first one turned out. It's perfect!

Great Giveaway!

2012-01-08T19:48:00.000-06:00

Crave My Photography is giving away some great stuff... including a 85mm/f1.8 lens (Nikon or Canon... your pick!). Seriously, this is a $1,000 lens! I hope I win!

http://cravemyphotography.com/blog/25000-fans-giveaway/#comment-48861

Mmmm, Carrot Cake

2012-01-08T12:38:00.001-06:00

I love a good carrot cake, but they are SO bad for you I always feel guilty! My guess is that a normal slice of carrot cake could be 400-500 calories... thats 5-6 miles at a 9 min pace, folks. Yeah, usually not worth it.

Until now! I found a "lite" recipe online and modified it a little further. It's still not "healthy" but I'd like to think it would only take 2 miles to burn it off. :)

Lite Carrot Cake
1 c flour
1 c whole wheat flour
3/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c splenda sugar blend
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 1/2 t ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1/3 c vegetable oil
2/3 c skim milk
2 T lemon juice
1 1.2 c grated carrots

1) Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9x13 pan.
2) Separate eggs and beat whites until stiff. Beat in 1/4c of splenda sugar blend.
3) DIY a healthier buttermilk by mixing lemon juice and skim milk and allowing to stand for 5 min. Milk will begin to sour.
4) In a large bowl combine flours, brown sugar, baking powder/soda and cinnamon, mix until blended. Add "buttermilk" and oil, mix well
5) Add egg yolks, mix well. Fold in whites, then carrots. Pour into prepared pan.
6) Bake 25 min.
7) Cool and frost. I went the unhealthy direction and used cream cheese frosting... it was delicious!

Enjoy!

10 days out!

2012-01-06T05:48:00.001-06:00

I know the marathon is close when it's on the 10 day forecast!

So far the weather looks perfect, I hope it stays that way!

Thankful to be home!

2011-12-31T23:10:00.001-06:00

Someone had been pretty crabby the past few days, but thankfully after 13 hours of sleep in his own bed we were back to smiley!

Love my little man!

A replacement (and upgrade!)

2011-12-30T13:55:00.001-06:00

In my (rare) spare time, I enjoy running, photography and sewing. I'm not particularly good at any of the 3 but enjoy doing them and try to get better.

Well, my sewing machine broke about 6 months ago. It was a cheap beginner machine and when I took it to get repaired the sewing shop indicated it wasn't worth the cost to repair it. Bummer.

Luckily, my friend Sarah had gotten a new machine and I was able to use her old one. It was a Janome which I wasn't familiar with but even though the machine was several years old, it ran so smooth and I was impressed. More on this later.

Anyways, I was talking to my Dad a few weeks ago about my broken machine and he said I could have my Mom's machine. She had bought a high-end machine about 10 years ago before she got really sick. It wasn't working right and when he took it in to get fixed for me they also said the repairs were cost more than its worth (stuff was bent and the timing was way off... whatever that means). Bummer, again.

When we were back at Christmas, we went to a sewing specialty store and found a nice Janome and were even able to trade in my Mom's old machine for more than I could believe since it didn't even work!

While we were still in Nebraska I finished my camera bag I was working on and it's super cute. More on that in another blog sometime. :)

Hello from somewhere in Oklahoma!

2011-12-30T12:29:00.001-06:00

We are just over half way traveling back to Houston (900 mile trip!). What else is there to do for 14 hours besides write a quick blog. Thank goodness for iPhones, right? ;)

Here is a picture of the little man watching Monsters, inc on the iPad. He is such a trooper on the long trip!

Christmas came a little early this year

2011-12-15T19:50:00.001-06:00

Found It!

2011-12-11T16:40:00.002-06:00

Sam and Marie

2011-11-23T21:16:00.000-06:00

In late July, my sister-in-law (Jill) was pregnant with twins and due to some complications delivered the babies at 26 weeks. Sadly, neither survived. We were able to fly back to Nebraska in early August to attend the funeral.

Justin and Jill asked me to take pictures during the ceremony. I did and spent quite a bit of time editing the photos. I just sent them back to Justin and Jill a few weeks ago.

Here are a few of the pictures. My goal was to capture emotion and I can definitely feel it with the pictures (but I was also there and can remember the emotion of the day).

I'm Lovin It!

2011-11-22T20:33:00.000-06:00

It's been over a month since we officially became a Mac family. We're still lovin it!

Bazinga!

2011-11-21T20:24:00.000-06:00

Ok, so if you watch "Big Bang Theory" the title and content of this post will make sense.

Since Halloween last year (Isaac was 3.5 weeks old) we've been talking about how Isaac "needed" to be the Flash this year. In late August, I went online to find him a costume and it was tough to find any in stock. Seriously. Apparently a 12-18 month Flash costume is in high demand.

After some searching, I found one and got it ordered. Isaac did so well with the costume, including the head piece! He was hamming it up on Halloween, it was so fun.

Here are a few pictures from Halloween.

My Love-Hate Relationship with 26.2

2011-11-20T20:05:00.001-06:00

In 2008 I ran my first (and only) full marathon. I had a blast and have been wanting to do another one ever since.

In 2009 I had the stress fracture, 2010 was stress fracture recovery and PRing then during the Houston race this year I was only 3 months post-partum so was only prepared for the half marathon.

Well, 2012 is going to be the year of the FULL!

I've had several warm-up races (10-miler, Houston Half Marathon, 26.2k) and another one to go in early December. So far so good! Let's hope I can keep it up for Januray 15, 2012!

Here's a quick picture of my "bling" I've collected over the years!

Yes that Tiffany's bag is running bling! It's from the Nike Women's Marathon/Half Marathon in San Francisco. (The medal was a Tiffany's necklace... my kind of medal!)

Here is a sneak peak of the medals for January. Can't wait!

1-Year Pictures in Nebraska

2011-11-19T20:03:00.000-06:00

Hi there! It's been a while since I posted. Life is great, just busy!

Time for some catch up! When we were in Nebraska a couple months ago for my sister's wedding, we had some pictures taken for Isaac's 1-year. He was actually 11.5 months at the time, but close enough, right?

We had a local Lincoln photographer take the pictures. I kind of feel "eh" about them, but oh well. Bryce laughed at me because after we received the CD of the pictures (we purchased the rights to the pics), I uploaded some of my favorite shots into photoshop and edited them myself. Ha! I felt like the B&W pics she just hit "grayscale" in photoshop so they looked a little flat.

Here are a few of the (Kim edited) pictures. Enjoy!

Hello!

2011-11-05T12:04:00.001-05:00

My Dad taught Isaac that you say "hello" when you answer the phone. So every time you say "hello" he puts his hand to his ear like he's holding a phone.

Here are a couple pics I snapped with my iPhone. Too cute!

Hello!

Starting Early

2011-10-30T12:02:00.001-05:00

(don't worry, it's apple juice)

Eat Real!

2011-10-27T08:05:00.001-05:00

I don't claim to be "crunchy granola" (PC term for those "organic only" crazy people who are pretty far out on the "natural" scale).

But... I do believe that eating a lot of processed foods can't be good for you. Therefore, I try to make sure we eat a lot of fresh fruits, veggies and other things unprocessed. For example, a typically dinner for us is grilled chicken, baked potato and steam green beans.

This morning my banana had this sticker. I think it's going to be my food motto. Eat Real!

I almost forgot!

2011-10-25T20:30:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite touches to Isaac's Monster Bday Party were his cups and straws! I stole this idea from one of the blogs I found online. I glued craft eyes onto clear Solo cups and bought these straws from Etsy.

Seriously... loved them.

I kind of want to use them everyday.

Would that be weird?

{Correct answer is "No" here...} Ha!

What is this Pinterest thing?

2011-10-21T22:51:00.000-05:00

So a friend recently told me about Pinterest. (Thanks, Courtney!) I procrastinated then finally joined. I don't really know what I'm doing... I just find pins that I like and "repin" them so they save and I can look at them again later.

On the left-hand side of my profile screen, it says I started "following" all these people. Ummm... I've never clicked anything to follow people (the list is mostly people I already know). Not that I don't want to follow them, but how did that happen without me clicking on anything?

Oh well. If I started following you on Pinterest, no offense, but it was unintentional. I have no idea how it happened. Ha!

I've pretty much pinned enough home stuff to decorate my next house. Lots of awesome rooms that fit my style.

On another note, this is my first iMac blog! Woo! Have I mentioned how much I love this computer?!?! :)

From Pinterest... love this bathroom! Happy Friday!

It's Here! It's Here!

2011-10-20T06:16:00.002-05:00

We opened the box, plugged it in, turned it on and then said.... Now what do we do?!?! We didn't even know how to pull up a web page! Ha!

We were up entirely too late playing and are starting to figure things out. Love it so far!

And guess what.... It hasn't crashed yet! Woo!

We did it! GASP

2011-10-18T19:50:00.001-05:00

We thought about switching to a Mac before we bought our current computer (which is a Dell purchased a month before we found out I was pregnant). Ever since we bought it, I regret spending the money because it's been a piece of....

It crashes, doesn't load, won't connect to the internet... blah, blah, blah... typical PC stuff.

Last night, I'd had it. I had to restart 3 times just to get the internet to load. Our plan this year has been to get a new computer around Christmas but we gave in early and got THIS!

Woo! Our new computer is a 27" iMac and thanks to Amazon Prime will be here tomorrow!

Not gonna lie, I'm frightened at the thought of now having a Mac after being PC people pretty much forever (I don't think the Black/Green Macintosh from 3rd grade really counts). Everyone I've talked to said "once you go Mac, you can't go back!". Ha! I hope they are right.

LOVE this!

2011-10-17T20:19:00.000-05:00

I've noticed several girlfriends at work have these necklaces with their kid's names on them. Honestly, these don't really seem like something I would normally be into, but ever since I saw them I can't stop thinking about them. My sister-in-law has one which has our nephew's name (Grant) as well as the 2 babies she lost at 26 weeks (Sam and Marie... twins).

A blog a follow (a friend of a friend of a friend... something like that) is giving them away! I hope I win!

http://www.inthiswonderfullife.com/2011/10/giveaway-discount-monday.html

I would get this one, just plain and simple with "Isaac" on it.

Fairy Godmother Project

2011-10-16T10:43:00.000-05:00

I recently decided it was time to clean out our guest bedroom closet. The closet is walk-in and housed a bunch of ~~crap~~ stuff. Some of the ~~crap~~ stuff included about half a dozen bridesmaids dresses from weddings (anywhere from 3 to 10 years old). I decided to hold onto 2 of them, but the rest I needed to pitch.

I searched online for someplace I could donate that wasn't Goodwill. I found the following site:
http://fairygodmotherproject.com/

How cool is this? It's an organization in Houston that provides free formal dresses to underprivileged high school girls. Normally they are used for prom, but they also list other events such as high school graduation.

So, I boxed them up and shipped them off. I hope someone is able to use them!

Child Proofing

2011-10-12T20:51:00.002-05:00

When we first had Isaac I was determined that we wouldn't *need* to babyproof. I thought... we'll be disciplined and teach him right and wrong.

[feel free to laugh out loud now]

I've determined that it is impossible.... repeat.... impossible to teach a 6-12 month to not try to stick their finger in an outlet. We try and try and try to discipline him. Most of the time he laughs at us and we aren't "ready" to do things like pinching (aka: inflicting pain) to teach right and wrong. Many of my girlfriends pinch the shoulder/base of the neck area, but we just can't do it.

So, we've resorted to baby proofing. We haven't given up on disciplining/teaching, but at least he can't hurt himself if we don't catch him in time.

We got these outlet plugs:

And these cabinet locks (the magnet kind)

If you never had to baby proof your house... well good for you. If you are like us and haven't mastered getting the discipline to stick, I'd recommend these products!

Go Me!

2011-10-09T10:10:00.001-05:00

This morning was the USA 10-miler. It's a fun, local race sponsored by the United Space Alliance. It's part of the warm-up series for the Houston Marathon in January so there is always a good turnout. (Maybe 500 runners or so?)

I've run it every year since 2006 with the exception of last year. (1 week postpartum was probably too soon). :)

For the past 10 days, the weather has been great. About 55-62 degrees in the morning which is perfect running weather. Today, I woke up to 90% humidity and 78 degrees. Yuck! I was planning for a bad race.

O contraire mon ami!

I finished in 1:30 which is a 3 min PR from my previous record I set in 2009. Go me!

Happy 1st Birthday Isaac!

2011-10-08T10:41:00.001-05:00

Sunday was Isaac's 1st Birthday! The time has gone by so quickly! I really, really can't believe it. It some ways he has changed so much in 1 year and it blows my mind... in other ways it feels like just yesterday I was admitted in the hospital to be induced.

Of course, we celebrated his birthday with a fun party with close friends and family. We decided to go with the Monster Party theme that I had thought about several months ago. I had a few websites I found for inspiration (here, here and here).

Here are a few pictures from the day!

I loved his invitations!

I made this sign for the front door (now hanging on his bedroom door). Definitely not worth the effort (it took a LONG time) but it turned out cute. We also made a "Happy Birthday Isaac" sign that also took forever but turned out cute as well. Unfortunately I don't have a picture. :(

Party favors (included crayons, a stuffed monster and play-doh)

Silly me forgot to take food/decor pictures BEFORE people got here. Oh, well. ;) We catered Rudy's BBQ (not shown) which was a big hit. I'm now obsessed with chevron fabric.

I loved his cake. I'm so glad we had one made!

Christine and I made these marshmallow monsters. Not many were eaten but they looked cute.

Hanging outside in the backyard

The birthday boy with his cupcake!

A big hit at the party was the photobooth! I got the idea from a friend's blog and had to shamelessly steal! :) I think everyone enjoyed the monster mouths!

Birthday Weekend

2011-10-02T21:59:00.001-05:00

A much longer blog to come, but wanted to drop a quick blog about the great bday weekend for Isaac!

Grandpa O came to town to celebrate along with aunt Christine and uncle Kevin. We had a great time watching football, eating and celebrating isaac's first birthday!

Here are a few quick iPhone picks. (by the way, the iPhone blogger app is great. Blogging from the phone right now!)

Last One

2011-09-29T19:41:00.001-05:00

I've been mixing breastmilk and formula 50/50 since he was 9 months old and this is the last bag.

He turns 1 on Sunday. Not too bad!

Two Out of Three

2011-09-25T15:47:00.001-05:00

Two out of the Three Osborn ladies are now hitched.

We spent the past almost 2 weeks in Nebraska. Part of it was for my sister's wedding and the rest was for recruiting! I'm the Team Captain for the University of Nebraska recruiting team for my employer. It's always a fun time and a free trip to NE!

My sister got married on Saturday, Sept 17th. It was actually a pretty crummy day (drizzly all day), but that didn't stop the wedding from being perfect! Christine wanted a "Fall" theme and I think she pulled it off great.

Isaac was the adorable ring bearer (pictures to come) and did great during the ceremony. He even "walked" (with assistance) down the isle. It was stinking adorable.

Here are a few pictures from the photographer's sneak peek.

11 Months!

2011-09-05T10:40:00.000-05:00

Our little man is only 1 month away from being a year old! Where has the time gone?!?

A few stats from this month:

Weight: ~22 lbs, 8 oz (~50%)

We are a crawling machine this month! He changed from an army crawler to a "normal" crawler and high-tails it around the house. We've had to unscrew all the door stops since that is a favorite.
He is "cruising" along the couch. He pulls himself up on everything it seems and getting good at sidestepping to what he wants.
He says "Dada", "Mama" and "Dog" (sounds like "Duh"). My favorite is "Mama" of course. :)
He loves reading books and turning the pages. His favorite are the Peekaboo books.
Lacey makes him laugh when she sprints around the house. Too cute.
He loves to swing! In the evenings when the sun goes down a little we swing in the backyard.
He started sleeping on a cot at daycare! Seriously?!?!
We are 100% on table food which has been wonderful. No more making babyfood at 10pm at night!
I have 3 weeks of frozen breastmilk left which will only leave us ~10 days of straight formula before we switch to cows milk.
Bday party planning has begun! The theme is "Monster Party" since we've called him our Monster Man as long as we can remember. It's going to be cute.

And the best part... the pictures! Enjoy!

Practicing

2011-09-03T20:10:00.000-05:00

I've been practicing a bit more. Still lots to learn but having fun in the process!

Learning

2011-08-20T23:36:00.001-05:00

Other than running, when I think about my hobbies I think about sewing and taking pictures. I'm not too strong at either.

Recently, I decided I need a hobby I'm good at... soooo, I'm going to try to get better at taking "good" pictures (meaning getting better at Photoshop) :). I love taking pictures of Isaac, so hopefully I can start doing it well and actually be proud of my pictures.

Here's a picture I tried this evening:

Before:

After:

Okay, looking at it now, it doesn't seem that amazing. But I must say I'm proud of my small accomplishment. :)

Mom

2011-08-17T22:20:00.000-05:00

My mom passed away at about 3am on Tuesday, August 16th. She was 54 years old.

For those that didn't know, she had battled Multiple Scleroses for over 20 years. She was diagnosed a month after I was diagnosed with diabetes. MS is a horrible disease and it was incredibly difficult to see your mother withering away over a long period of time. She was still our mom and we loved her.

We often talked about what it would be like to have a "normal" mom... one that was able to go shopping with you, helped you pick out your wedding dress, talked on the phone everyday, etc... But you know, she may not have been the conventional mother, she was OUR mother and it didn't matter if she was like anyone else.

Our mom was kind, caring, funny, feisty (yep, thats where I get it), goofy, and LOVED her family... especially her new Grandson. She wanted to be a Grandma so bad and I'm grateful that she was able to be one before she passed. We talked with the Pastor at my parent's church today and recalled several stories from before and after the MS started. Even though she physically wasn't the same, she was always the same inside.

Mom, we love you and will miss you.

Ozzie Vegas Trip

2011-08-03T09:41:00.000-05:00

Instead of hosting a wedding shower, my sister Ali and I paid for all 3 of us to go to Las Vegas for a 3-day weekend! We figured there won't be many opportunities for just the 3 of us to travel in the future so we'd better do it while we can.

Ali and I planned the trip right... we stayed at the Wynn!! L-O-V-E that hotel. I don't see myself returning to Vegas anytime soon, but if we do we will most certainly stay at the Wynn.

Our fab hotel room!

The first day we walked around and looked at the hotels, did some shopping and visited the famous "Gold and Silver Pawn Shop". It's the famous store seen in the show "Pawn Stars" on the history channel. Okay, okay, feel free to laugh, it was my idea. I had to see it! There was a line to get in and we had to wait about 30 min. Honestly, not really that cool in person, but now I can say I went. :)

Christine was the big winner of the trip.

We were able to do a little pool lounging.

Pictures at the Bellagio.

We got tickets to see the famous Cirque du Soleil "O" on Saturday night. Bryce and I went 2 years ago but had nosebleed seats. This time, Ali was able to find seats in row 5, center. Seriously awesome. The splash zone was rows 1-3, so we had legitimate, ridiculously awesome seats. Not sure how she found them!

Before the show:

Picture is only to show how ridiculous our seats were! Amazing!!

Trip to Nebraska

2011-08-01T09:24:00.000-05:00

Over Memorial Day, we happened to look at plane tickets to Omaha. They were only $230 / ea (compared to ~$400 normal) so we booked a trip over July 4th! The fun thing is that we didn't tell anyone. :)

The day we flew to Omaha was Bryce's birthday. Bryce HATES flying... he prefers to drive. I hate driving... so luckily I usually "win" and we get to fly. :) The night before our flight, I was checking in for our flight and there was an option to upgrade to Business First for a pretty low price. I surprised Bryce and upgraded for his birthday. Let me tell... so WORTH IT flying with a 9 month old! If I ever have the option to upgrade for that price again, I'll do it! The extra room was so nice. We were able to spread a blanket out on the floor and let Isaac play while we drank wine.

My cousin, Nick, was getting married on July 2nd (the day we flew in) so we were able to surprise my side of the family, including extended family. We rarely get to see extended family and it was fun to be there at my cousin's wedding!

Bryce's parents were also very surprised and they got to babysit Isaac during the wedding. Isaac loved the 1:1 time with his grandparents.

We spent the 5 day trip just relaxing with our families. Here are a few pictures from the trip!

On the 4th of July!

Grandma Jakub and her 2 grandsons.

Grant (3) and Isaac (9 mo) - Grant was not loving the camera. :)

Jakub kids

A few iPhone pics...

Bday boy enjoying his Business First wine and snack. :)

Us at Nick and Sarah's wedding

Aunt Ali reading to Isaac. The chair he is sitting in was my dad's when he was little (reupholstered).

9 Months (whoops!)

2011-07-30T09:24:00.000-05:00

Isaac turns 10 months on Tuesday. Whoops! Forgot to post at 9 months!

Several things are running together but here are a few distinct things I remember from the 9th month.

Weight - 21.0 lbs (50th)
Height - 28 " (50th)
We finally started crawling! He is a hilarious crawler. He crawls on his knees and forearms so it looks like a weird, modified army crawl. He can push up on his hands easily, but he started crawling this way and it's stuck.
I started trying to introduce table food. If I make something thats easily "blendable" we feed him that.

Wow, thats about all I remember, I suppose that is why I try to do these more timely! Here are a few pictures that I took at 9 months (not late).

Love my little guy's smile!

So curious!

Laughing, laughing, laughing.

Am I not supposed to do this??

Nasolacrimal Duct Probing and Intubation

2011-07-13T12:38:00.001-05:00

ie.... "Crawford Tube"

Isaac was born with obstructed tear ducts in both eyes. That means he produces tears normally but the drain pipes are clogged. The effect is goopy/"mucusy" eyes all the time. They are so bad that when he wakes up in the morning he can't even open his eyes because of the dried mucus "welding" them closed.

He has had them probed twice since he was 6 months old. That procedure is done by a Pediatric Ophthalmologist in their office without anesthesia and take literally about 1 min per eye. He got upset and didn't like it but was fine about a minute after they were complete. It was successful on the left eye duct but not the right.

The next step was to do a Nasolacrimal Duct Probing and Intubation (also called a Crawford tube). In this procedure they are put under general anesthesia and a small tube is threaded through their bottom and top ducts and are sutured to the inside of their nose. It is left in place for 3-6 months and removed in the Ophthalmologists office.

Isaac had this procedure done today. We arrived at Clear Lake Regional Hospital at 7am and checked in/filled out paperwork, etc... We went to the pre-op room where we met with the Anesthesiologist and the Pediatric Ophthalmologist. They took him from us at 8am and we went back to the waiting room.

About 50 min later the Ophthalmologist came out and told us the procedure went well and we could go see him. We went back to the recovery room and found a nurse holding him while he was screaming. Not just sad crying, but the kind of screaming that you lose your voice over. His nose was bloody and he still had his IV.

I took him and he was arching his back and throwing his head back. It was clear he was in pain. I asked the nurse to get him pain meds if she hadn't already. She left and about 15 min later came back with a syringe. She tried to put it in his IV but decided it was either kinked or clotted and couldn't get it to push in. They talked back and forth about trying to reinsert his IV.

I'm getting frustrated and interrupt by saying "Why can't we give him pains meds by another method? Like an injection?" I said it in my "work voice" (as Bryce calls it) which is stern and authoritative. They kind of give me a surprised look and start scrambling. Keep in mind Isaac is screaming this entire time.

Fifteen minutes later they come back with an oral pain reliever. We give it to him and he finally settles down about 20 min later. He falls asleep on my chest and we wait about 30 min before signing the papers and leaving.

I obviously understand that surgery is not fun and we shouldn't have been surprised that he was upset. I AM upset that the nurses didn't have their act together. No one could make a decision... why did I have to get after them to take care of my kid's pain? Shouldn't it be obvious if one method doesn't work you try another method? I wanted them to stop trying to fix the problem with little comments that "he will get better"... I'm telling you he is in pain so give him something! When Isaac was in the NICU at Children's Memorial Hermann I was very confident in the abilities and decisions of the staff... not the case here.

I was apprehensive about taking him to this hospital. We went back and forth on the decision to take him here or Texas Children's (we live about 45 min away from Texas Children's which made the decision difficult). We decided we really like the Pediatric Ophthalmologist and she had rights at Clear Lake... but we didn't consider the nursing/support staff in that decision.

So I am feeling like a horrible mother for taking him to this hospital. The procedures has a 95% success rate so hopefully we are done. If by some unfortunate circumstance, we have to do it again, I will be going to Texas Children's.

Sorry to vent, but I was not happy.

Isaac Waving!

2011-07-05T20:54:00.002-05:00

6 Month Pictures

2011-06-26T15:51:00.000-05:00

I wanted to have pictures taken for Isaac's 6 months. I had heard from a friend that the "mall" pictures run around $100 if you buy the digital images (which we would probably do). So I shopped and around and heard from another friend about a photographer who was just starting out. She had very reasonable prices for the photography session and actually put that towards the purchase of pictures.

Altogether, we did spend more than we would for mall pictures, but not considerably more and I think they turned out awesome!

We had 85 photoshopped "proofs" to choose from. Seriously?!?! That was way beyond our expectations. I think we expected only about 20. We chose the following and had a variety of prints made for us and family. They were all great and it was so hard to choose!

Outtakes

2011-06-19T14:20:00.000-05:00

Everyone posts the perfect, cute pictures of their kid, right?

We have our computer screen saver set to scroll through all the pictures of Isaac. I've seen a few scrolling through that have cracked me up. Here are some...

8 Months

2011-06-13T10:45:00.001-05:00

Little man is 8 months already! In about 2 months, I'll get to start planning the big 1-year celebration! : )

8 Month Updates:

Weight: ~19.0 lbs
Length: ~27.5"
Isaac loves to eat and eat and eat! He's such a great eater and hasn't had any issues with new foods, different flavors or textures. I was a good eater as a baby/toddler (his father was not) so hopefully he gets that from me! :)
Recently I started cutting up foods such as buttered toast into small pieces and letting him eat it off his tray. He enjoys the toast and also works on the "pincher grasp" by picking it up and putting it in his mouth.
Still sleeping great. He slept 11 hours on December 15th, 2010 and has never woken up since. We are definitely spoiled.
He's not officially crawling yet (on all fours) but kind of inches along. It's not elegant at all, but he gets to where he wants to go. This past week he started pushing up on all fours for a few seconds so "official" crawling may not be far away.
He can't pull himself to a stand, but if we stand him up he will balance himself next to the couch and stand there for 30-60 seconds. I wonder how long until he can pull himself up?
He stayed mostly healthy this month. He had a 3-day fever but when we took him to the pediatrician, she said it was only a cold (so no antibiotics).
Daycare still going good. He still has unpredictable naps at daycare, but now does much better on the weekends in his dark, quiet room than he did before daycare.
He is such a happy baby. We just love hearing him laugh and smile.
He started bathing in the 'big tub' this month. I purchased a non-slip mat for the bathtub and he does great!
He can hold a bottle and feed himself now. We didn't realize he could, then one day I was watching the webcam at his daycare and I saw him laying on the ground feeding himself!?!? We had no idea! Now that I am weaning he drinks a bottle mixed with formula and milk. It's so nice to be able to put him on the ground and have him feed himself while I do something else.
I love to dress him in little-man clothes. At first I thought there were no cute little boy clothes, but I've decided that you just need to know where to look! Enjoy the pictures!

My Boobs Hurt...

2011-06-11T10:10:00.000-05:00

TMI, I know... but this is pretty much all that is on my mind recently so I can't help that I need to blog about it.

As you know, I went back to work when Isaac was 6 months old. I continued to pump twice a day at work. As work ramped back up in intensity I was having more trouble finding time to pump and it was seriously stressing me out.

To make it worse, Isaac got 4 teeth between 6-7 months and well... we've learned to bite.

So, I made the decision to wean at 8 months. The hardest part was making the decision and getting past my "Mom guilt". Once I really thought about it, I realized I have 2 months of milk in the deep freeze and most of my friends quit between 4-8 months and their kids are happy and healthy. Once I decided to wean, I feel such a sense of relief.

Sooo.... on the to title of this blog. My boobs HURT! I've been weaning for about 2 weeks and I've done what the books say (cut a feeding, then wait a few days). I suppose it's working but it is painful!

Any suggestions to make it less painful and go faster? I've read about freezing cabbage leaves and putting them in your bra until they thaw... but that freaks me out so no thank you. I'm down to 1 pumping/feeding a day but I still feel so full and it doesn't seem to be getting better. Ugh!

Hopefully it will all end soon. I can't wait to wear normal bras, drink wine at dinner, be able to go for a run without feeling like I have cantelopes bouncing around, have my hair stop falling out, have all my shirts fit again and who knows what other small things I took for granted before breastfeeding.

I'm proud to say I breastfed my kid for 8 solid months (with 2 more in the freezer!). But man I can't wait to be DONE!

Swinging

2011-06-08T08:52:00.002-05:00

My parents got Isaac a small swingset while they were in town over Memorial Day. It's the perfect size for our tiny backyard. It's made for little kids and has a weight limit of something like 50 lbs. Isaac loves to swing and it's nice to be able to do it in our backyard so we don't have to walk 2/3 a of mile to the park in this heat.

Bryce was mowing when I took these pictures so it looks a little funny on our patio, but you get the idea. (Another good thing... it's small and light so Bryce can move it out of the grass when he mows!)

I think he likes it. :)

Farewell "Great White"

2011-06-05T08:24:00.000-05:00

When we bought our house, it came with white appliances so naturally we bought a white refrigerator. What we didn't realize at the time was that the white appliances in the house were the lowest of the low in quality and we would end up replacing all of them within 5 years.

So 8 years after buying our house, we have a stainless dishwasher, stove and microwave but a big, ugly white refrigerator.

Last weekend I heard about a deal at Sears. They had a Kenmore french-door refrigerator that was normally $2,500 on sale for $1,199 + no tax. SOLD! We ended up selling "Great White" in less than 24 hrs on Craigs List for $350... making our new fridge cost about $850. Woohoo!

Out with the old...

In with the new!

End Of A 2 Month String

2011-06-01T15:35:00.001-05:00

Well... as luck would have it, less than a week after I posted about how healthy Isaac has been, we are sick! :(

He was fine all weekend, then Tuesday morning (yesterday) when we woke him up he didn't seem right. Sort of flushed and kind of cranky. He's usually happy in the morning. We took his temperature and it was fine (~98).

He went to daycare and shortly after lunch we got a call that his temperature was 101.5. Bryce picked him up and brought him home. He took an extra nap in the afternoon was pretty lethargic all day.

This morning he still had a temp (~102). I called the Pedi and made an appointment for 11:45. I left work at 11 and Bryce and I met at the Pedi to do the "handoff" (I am staying home with him in the afternoon).

The Pedi indicated he didn't have an infection (ear, strep or sinus). She said it was most likely a virus and would take a few days to get over. However, he was setup to get an ear infection because of the congestion so we needed to watch that.

Sooo.... poor little guy. Sick and he just has to wait it out. Whatever virus he got, he acquired it this weekend (or it was building over several days and he got it from daycare).

The Pedi did give me a prescription for an antibiotic in case he doesn't show signs of improvement in a day or so... then it's most likely turned into an ear infection or something. Hopefully we don't have to use it!

Super Cute PJ's

2011-05-28T09:15:00.000-05:00

When Isaac was born, we received a super cute pair of Ralph Lauren PJ's from some friends back in Nebraska. They were 9M size so I stashed them away in a drawer and basically forgot about them since they were so big.

I took a day of vacation yesterday and spent part of it cleaning out Isaac's room and putting his smaller clothes into containers for storage. Well.... I ran across these PJ's that I had completely forgotten about!

They are seriously adorable and seriously soft. But my dear Isaac... don't get used to Ralph Lauren PJ's... when you grow out of these it's back to the $3.99 clearance PJ's at Target. HA! :)

4!

2011-05-25T20:02:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, the little man got his 4th tooth! Thats 4teeth in about 6 weeks (top 2 and bottom 2)! Poor little guy, I imagine that wasn't too pleasant.

I snapped the following picture of 3 teeth. We took it the day before the 4th one came through. Little man is growing up!

Ye or Nay?

2011-05-22T10:43:00.005-05:00

Friday Randoms

2011-05-20T22:16:00.000-05:00

Poor blog... I've neglected you since I went back to work. You and I had so much fun posting for the previous 6 months. But thats life... :)

A few "randoms" to keep you up to date on the Jakub's:

Isaac is doing super at day care. He had the one fever/ear infection/sinus infection after the first week but has been healthy since. By healthy I mean no fever... we've had several colds. After a month of pumping at work I was ready to throw in the towel, but I really think breastfeeding is making the difference. SOOO, we're still going and going and going. It's really getting old, but it's worth it if he's staying healthy.
I buy everything online. Seriously, everything. If I could economically buy groceries online, I would do it. I currently buy laundry detergent, fabric softener, diapers, wipes, toys, clothes, toilet paper, face wash, razors, prescriptions... and I'm sure there are more. Why spend time away from Isaac when I can *click*... 2 days later via Amazon Prime it's at my door??
I am not getting up at 5 am to run tomorrow morning (Saturday). Go me! It's the first Saturday since Isaac was 5 weeks old that I haven't gotten up to run.
I feel incredibly guilty when people ask me if I miss being home and I say "no". Yeah, it's tough only getting to spend an hour or 2 home with him in the evenings, but overall I'm totally less neurotic when I'm working.
My -9 lbs v. prepregnancy weight is now -5 lbs. HA! I have lunch meetings at least 3 days a week so I'm somewhat surprised that after eating lunches like Mexican and Jason's Deli thats the only damage so far.
My husband rocks. I've had few rough days recently and he's made dinner, cleaned my pump stuff, picked up the kitchen, done the chores and started laundry just so I could focus my time with Isaac before he went to bed. I love him. :)
I ordered Isaac some bigger size PJ's off carters.com and I think they screwed up my order because I never got a confirmation email. Grrr.
I really wish I could have a Nanny. Yeah Isaac doing great at Daycare but a Nanny would clean your house and get groceries! Sweet! But they run $500-$600 / week.... not gonna happen. ;)
We have 3 friends competing in Ironman-Texas tomorrow. 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run. So awesome. Alison, Nils and Angie are my heroes! We will be tracking them throughout the race here.
Our friends, Matt and Laura, just got a new Toyota Highlander! It's so pretty!
Bryce's brother and his wife were/are expecting twins. One of the babies' sac collapsed and it is still alive and growing but has a very small chance of surviving... and could potentially result in losing the healthy one. Please keep them in your prayers.
My sister gets married in less than 4 months. It's going to be a blast!
I go to Las Vegas with my sisters in less than 2 months. We are staying at the Wynn. Can't wait!!
The new iPad2 magnet cover is seriously slick. It even magnets to the refrigerator and you could use the iPad as a notepad on the fridge if you wanted. The Allrecipes.com app is great for cooking.
Speaking of Apple stuff... we are thinking of getting an iMac for our next desktop but switching from PC to Apple is kind of scary! Anyone recently convert? Was it difficult?
I love wearing FRC's to work. It makes laundry so much easier. (FRC's are "Fire Retardant Clothing"... coveralls, actually). Pink undershirt + comfy shorts + navy blue XOM FRC's + old running shoes = perfect work attire. :)

I think thats about it for now. Life is good. :) Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

First Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T12:57:00.001-05:00

Bryce and Isaac have been spoiling me on my first Mother's Day weekend! Yesterday we spent the afternoon in Houston. We picked up a few cupcakes from my favorite place, Crave Cupcake! We then had an early dinner at Jus Mac. A fun, eclectic restaurant in the Heights that serves only Mac and Cheese. Seriously, where has this place been all my life? :) We ordered 3 skillets (Buffalo Chicken, Chili Cheese and The Hangover) and enjoyed the nice weather eating on the back patio. SO GOOD!

Today on Mother's Day, Bryce made me breakfast in bed. When Isaac woke up closer to 8am, he brought him in and all 3 of us watched cartoons together for a few minutes. We got ready and went to church at 9am.

We came home, had lunch and Isaac was being so giggly and fun. I took the following picture of him. He's down for a nap now and Bryce and I are watching a movie. What a great weekend! I'm one blessed mommy!

7 Months

2011-05-03T20:07:00.000-05:00

Our little man turned 7 months yesterday! We were talking last night about the day he was born and I can't believe it's been that long already. In some ways it feels longer... I can't even remember what it was like being pregnant. In same ways it feels shorter... 7 months is a long time!

7 Months Updates...

Approx Weight: 18 lbs, 3 oz (~40%)
Approx Length: 27" (~50%)
Isaac started daycare full-time just after he turned 6 months. It has been a big adjustment for him and us. After the first full month he is doing great. He naps well and is usually happy when we drop him off and pick him up. Not every day is perfect, but it's going well enough that I don't feel guilty about having him in daycare. :)
Our little man still sleeps so well! He still hasn't waken up in the middle of the night since December 15th! Yay!
The big milestone this month was the first tooth! The day after Easter it finally broke through. It's still just barely a little crest of white above the gum but it's definitely there! I've always heard that the corresponding tooth on the opposite appears pretty quickly but other one hasn't made it's appearance yet.
Little "I" is still such a happy, giggly baby. We find it ironic that he smiled for the first time really late (~3 months) but now he smiles and laughs more than the average baby.
He had his first illness this month. After his first full week in daycare he had a fever over the weekend. After a few days of monitoring the fever, it didn't improve so we brought him in to the Pedi and he had an ear and sinus infection. Poor little man! He had his first-ever round of antibiotics that cleared it right up!
I think we are getting close to crawling. Maybe another 2 weeks to a month. He "inchworms" right now and seems to be getting better coordinated every day. We are excited and fearing the inevitable day he starts crawling all over the place. :)

Of course... the best part. His pictures taken by Mommy! We had professional pictures taken as well (intended to be 6 mo photos but I waited to long to schedule them so they are 7 mo pictures). The photographer should have them ready in a week or two. We can't wait! I'll post them when they are done!

Let's Go for a Ride

2011-04-25T14:34:00.003-05:00

We have been wanting to get into another sport besides just running. It will give our joints a rest from time to time and of course cross-training is always a good thing!

I've wanted road bike for a couple years now, but with a price tag of ~$1,500 for a middle-range starter bike it hasn't really been the priority. (Yeah, you read that right... that much for middle-range starter bike. Yikes!) What's also crazy is that for $1,500 you still can't ride it! You have to buy pedals, the special shoes and a helmet! (those will run about an extra $300 total).

We both have mountain bikes, but we've found that they are not at all practical in Texas. We never ride them.

We visited a few different cycling shops and checked out Trek, Specialized, Cannondale and Felt bikes. I was really disappointed with Trek for many reasons. One being the stupid flower decals on the bike. UGH! Yeah I like girlie stuff, but not on my bike! Why don't they just make it pink and add streamers!?!?

At Webster Cycling I found "my" bike! It's the Felt ZW6. Loooooove it! I thought I wanted a Cannondale, but after talking with the guys at the shop apparently Felt is now the way to go (it used to be Cannondale a few years ago, but for various reasons the quality of the Cannondale components have gone down so now they recommend Felt).

Here it is... my dream bike. Carbon frame and only 19 lbs. Momma want!!

Hopefully in a few months when we've recovered from me not working for 6 months we can pursue a purchase! Can't wait!

Family Picnic

2011-04-23T14:34:00.000-05:00

Last weekend after all the illness we needed to get out. When we ran the Seabrook Half Marathon in March we talked about going to "Pine Gully Park" at the end of the trails and having a picnic sometime. Pine Gully Park sits on Galveston Bay and has a large green area with lots of shade trees. Last weekend the weather was beautiful so we decided to do it!

We parked along the Seabrook trail and walked along the trail ~1.25 miles to the park. For Christmas, my parents got us a bike trailer that also doubles as a stroller when you put the front tire on. We took this instead of our normal BOB stroller since it has a huge storage compartment behind the seats. We were able to fit 2 blankets, a small cooler and a sack of food for lunches with plenty of room to spare. Pretty cool stroller!

Here are a few pictures from our day at the park.

Lovin' our Nebraska hat!

Our picnic spot at the park.

Somebody was happy!

Bryce and Isaac watching the waves on Galveston Bay.

The Hardest Part...

2011-04-18T20:49:00.000-05:00

Since being back at work for 2 weeks....

...It's no longer hard to drop Isaac off at daycare.

...It's no longer hard to only spend 1-2 hours with him in the evenings.

...It's hard to see him sick.

We had our first real illness this past week. He woke up last Sunday with a fever accompanied by a cough and runny nose and just couldn't shake it all week. I kept calling the Pediatrician everyday and the nurse and I would discuss him symptoms and her advice was to continue to monitor since his fever was not high (101 deg). Finally on Thursday we took him in and he had an ear AND sinus infection. Poor baby.

Luckily, if any week was a good week for this to happen it was this week. Most of Bryce's coworkers were at a conference so he was able to work from home easily without impacting progress on his projects. He stayed home Monday thru Thursday and I stayed home Friday.

We started antibiotics Thursday evening and by Friday the fever was gone and by Saturday we had our happy, smiley, laughing Isaac back. Thank goodness. I couldn't take the lethargic, sad Isaac another day.

On another note, I'm pretty frustrated with the Pediatrician (or nurse, rather). Logically, I can't say that based on his symptoms I blame the nurse for recommending we just monitor him (very low fever). Emotionally, I'm upset that he suffered that long. Thank goodness my Mommy instinct kicked in and we just brought him in. I will probably follow that sooner in the future.

Happy Spring!

2011-04-16T20:40:00.005-05:00

You may remember that last year my Dad helped us build a raised garden in our backyard. Okay, okay... so we bought everything and he built it. :)

We made the mistake last year of planting too much in general and too many "viney" plants. We planted tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, cantaloupe and misc herbs. Eventually the viney cucumbers and cantaloupe overtook the entire garden killing everything else.

We also planted everything too close and many plants didn't thrive (zucchini, yellow squash and peppers) or grew really tall and overtook everything that wasn't already dead from the viney stuff (tomatoes). It wasn't a complete loss since we did get a small crop from most plants and a ridiculous number of cucumbers. We certainly learned a few lessons in gardening...

... so bring on 2011!

This year we planted fewer plants, further apart. We spent Isaac's naptime last weekend and this weekend getting everything cleaned up, tilled and planted.

This year we planted 2 roma tomatoes, 2 grape tomatoes, 2 zucchini, 1 orange bell pepper, 1 red bell pepper, basil, cilantro (yum!) and several green bean seeds. I know that still sounds like a lot, but it's probably 1/3 of what we planted last year in our 20' x 4' bed. Notice that the only "viney" stuff is the green beans. We also were smarter and put in a trellis so they hopefully grow up and not out.

Our 2011 Garden!
(and yes we still require the use of the chicken wire to keep Lacey from digging everything up!)

You may also remember that in 2009 I planted 2 "Cinqo de Mayo" rose plants which were the 2009 rose of the year. (read about it here) They are alive and still kickin!

I also love springtime in Texas for the beautiful, fragrant Magnolia blossoms! Our tree in our backyard that we planted about 6 years ago has 4 large blooms on it right now and about a dozen bulbs about to open up. Love it!

Happy Spring!

Homemade Hummus

2011-04-10T14:44:00.001-05:00

We love snacking on hummus and veggies and/or crackers such as wheat thins. I will also put it in a pita (with turkey and cheese) for lunch. Here is a great recipe we found online to make our own. Delicious and nutritious!

2 cups canned garbanzo beans, drained
1/3 cup tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
2 cloves garlic, halved
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pinch paprika
1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley

Mix together and blend in food processor. Enjoy!

Back to Life, Back to Reality

2011-04-09T10:47:00.001-05:00

You know you sang the tune in your head... right? :)

This week was my first week back at work. It is a big adjustment, but overall it was a great week. I'm pretty much going to be tired all the time from now on, but sleep is now a tradeoff with exercise.

My days start at about 5am. I get up, go for a run, shower/get ready, feed Isaac at 6:30, leave for work around 6:50. I was hoping to leave for work quite a bit earlier, but pumping takes forever. It takes longer to pump in the morning than to just feed him.

I blocked my calendar during the day between 10-11am and 3-4 pm so I can pump. The first few days I had a tough time letting down, but has gotten much better. So far I am able to pump enough to fill his bottles for the next day (~7 oz during each pumping session). I haven't had to use any of my ~750 oz in the deep freeze.

I get home between 5-6pm. Isaac goes to bed at 7pm so that has been the hardest part. I'm used to spending all day with him, now I get to spend 1-2 hours. We start our bedtime routine at around 7 (bath, feeding) and have him in bed by ~7:45pm.

After he is in bed, Bryce and I usually do a few minutes of picking up and getting ready for the next day then we relax together from about 8-9 pm then go to bed.

On Friday (last night), we tried to be crazy and stay up "late"!! We fell asleep on the couch by 9:30 then woke up and went to bed at 10. HA!!

I "slept in" to 5:45 this morning and got up, pumped and went for a 9 mile run. When I got back Bryce was just finishing up feeding Isaac. I'm excited to spend all weekend with our little family!

Like I said, it is a big adjustment but we are doing well so far. During my leave of absence I made a commitment to do a better job of delegating when I get back. So far so good. We had a small crisis on Wednesday/Thursday... I was able to stay involved but delegate most of the follow-ups and I just managed the message/communication Doing this allowed me to leave on time that day despite the issues. Why didn't I do this before??? :)

6 Months

2011-04-03T21:08:00.000-05:00

Happy 1/2 Birthday to my sweet Isaac! I can't believe that it has really been that long since he joined us! We've had so much fun and I know there is more fun to come!

Isaac Updates:
Weight: 16 lbs, 13 oz (40%)
Length: 25 3/4 " (50%)

If you voted in the poll the last few months, my guess is that you got his weight wrong! :) He's turned into a little guy even though he was quite large at birth.

Isaac is still blessing us with great sleep (~7:30 pm to 7 am). A few nights he had 11pm screaming fits. but we never figured out why. We thought maybe teething, but no teeth yet. It went away, so we will never know. :)
He is such a happy baby! Yes, he has his moments... but he laughs and smiles so much we just love it! My in-laws claim that they've never seen a baby smile so much. Of course they are biased, but we think so too. :)
On March 21st, he sat up unsupported and never looked back! (about 5 3/4 months old). I wanted him to sit up SO BAD before he went to daycare and I'm so happy we made this milestone. I love having him situp so he can play with toys and interact more with us.
He started solid foods this month. Several friends had trouble with their kids really chewing/swallowing until 6 months so I didn't think we would have much luck but he took off right away. He loooooooooves carrots, sweet potatoes, bananas, squash, prunes (kind of weird, I know), and pears. It's so cute to feed him the solids. He leans forward and opens his mouth wide like a little baby chick.
He spent 3 days at daycare last week. He loved watching the other kids and loves the ladies at the daycare. He is struggling to nap in the noisy environment but hopefully that is just an adjustment.

Mommy Updates:

Probably my last month of Mommy updates. :)

Remaining baby weight: -5 Woohoo! I bought a pair of jeans this past week and got a size smaller than I wore before I was pregnant. I'm in really good shape right now from all the running, hopefully I can stay that way once I start work.
If you read my blog regularly, you know I ran a couple more half marathons. That makes 3.5 for the duration of my maternity leave. I'm thinking about signing up for the Houston full marathon again. We'll see if I chicken out when registration opens.
Work starts April 4th. Excited, sad, nervous, relieved... all at once. :)
Still breastfeeding. Up to ~750 oz in the freezer (~150 bags). Now that work is starting I will pumping twice during the day. I hope it works out for a couple more months.

Of course... the best part of the monthly update. The super cute pictures!!

He just laughed and laughed every time I make a "bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb" sound with my lips.

My little sitting-up boy looks so grown up!

Back to Work

2011-04-01T08:51:00.000-05:00

This is my last week at home with my little guy. I'm having many mixed emotions... sadness, relief, nervousness, excitement.

I've been reflecting over the past 6 months and am so thankful/grateful for so many things. I thought I would share a few...

I'm thankful...

To God for his generosity in giving us Isaac. Just 2 years ago we were told I would probably not be able to get my blood sugars under good enough control to sustain a healthy pregnancy since I'd been diabetic for so long.
For Bryce. He was so supportive the entire time. Rubbing my achy feet more than I should admit. :)
Friends and family who were also so supportive through the entire process (pre-pregnancy, pregnancy and with Isaac). We have been overwhelmed with your support.
Doctors at Memorial Hermann. They helped me achieve the aggressive blood sugar control I needed even when it seemed hopeless. They monitored my high-risk pregnancy and delivered a healthy baby! I truly believe I could not get this level of care anywhere else.
My employer who has a fantastic leave of absence program that allowed me to take 6 months off work and return to my same position. (I should also mention getting away for the countless high risk doctor appointments that always seemed to take 1/2 a day).
For an easy recovery. Everyone is different, but I had such a wonderful, easy recovery. I've told many people that had I known it would be so easy, I would have had an elective C-section since we knew Isaac was going to be bigger. The doctor actually cleared me to run after only 4 weeks, but I waited 6 due to other unrelated issues that are TMI for this blog. :)
For being able to run again so quickly and painlessly. Running is not only necessary to keep me healthy but is also a stress reliever. Not running for 8 months killed me. I was thankful to return to the pavement after just 6 weeks following a c-section and run an entire half marathon just 3 1/2 months post partum! I have run 3 half marathons since having Isaac.
To be able to breastfeed Isaac. It sucks and for me was the most unnatural thing... not going to lie. I've never experienced the special bond, but I do it because it's the best thing for him. I don't believe formula is bad or wrong, it's just not as good as breastmilk. Isaac was on his fair share of formula at the beginning and will again in a few months, but I'm thankful for the breastmilk he was able to receive.
To my sweet little Isaac. I had no idea I could love a little person so much. :)

The Pictures Say It All...

2011-03-30T16:36:00.000-05:00

As an addendum to to the post below... here are pictures taken by the race photographer (copied from the website just for illustration on this blog). Seriously, who ever buys these horrible pictures anyway?

Not a bad picture... cruising along...

The look on my face pretty much sums up the race (minus the thumbs up)...

At least I'm not as sweaty as that guy next to me...

Half Marathon from.....

2011-03-29T20:27:00.002-05:00

... I'll let you fill in the blank.

I ran my 3rd post-partum half marathon this past Sunday. It sucked.

I had demonstrated around a 2:00 - 2:01 half marathon time 2 weeks ago during a training run so I was pretty excited and hoping to do well. My plan was to run 9:00 min/mile which would give me some room to hit a 2:00 and hopefully be a little under.

Well......... race morning was awful. 73-ish degrees, 98% humidity and sunny. I was sweating just standing at the start line. I ran my goal pace for the first 6-7 miles, but it went downhill from there when the sun really started shining. I walked about a minute per mile of the last 4 miles. My average pace was over 10 min/mile for the second half. I almost threw up 3 times. Ouch.

I finished in 2:08:31. Yuck.

The next morning (Monday) it was 62 degrees, 50% humidity, cloudy. Suck it mother nature... not funny.

My hopes of another sub-2:00 half marathon will have to wait a little longer.

Texas Bluebonnets

2011-03-28T13:36:00.000-05:00

I also posted these on Facebook, so sorry if it's a repeat.

Every spring the bluebonnets bloom and they are so pretty. We are lucky to have a pretty big field of them close to our house.

As a texas resident, you are "required" to take pictures of your kid(s) in the bluebonnets. Even though we were exhausted after the race yesterday, it was a bright, sunny day so we decided to go take some pictures. Enjoy!

Hmmm.... what are these things?

He was so intrigued by the flowers he just wouldn't smile at the camera! Little stinker! This is the closest thing to a smile we got.

I love this one!

No More Peas

2011-03-27T19:30:00.000-05:00

Likes:

Carrots

Sweet Potatoes

Peaches

Butternut Squash

Dislikes:

PEAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Little Rolling Baby

2011-03-23T08:53:00.000-05:00

I took this video a few days ago. Love my little guy!

Sitting Up!

2011-03-21T21:41:00.001-05:00

Isaac is stubborn... not unlike someone I know (okay... me). I swear he's had the capability to sit up for a couple of weeks but he just didn't want to. If something caught his attention he would sit up and look, but if he was bored he would just pancake on the ground in front of him and scream! Ugh!

Well, finally today he *decided* it would be a good day to sit up. I was at the grocery store and had him sitting in one of those shopping cart covers with a toy in front of him. All of a sudden he sat straight up and grabbed the toy in front of him and chewed on it... for several minutes! Holy moly!

When Bryce got home later that day we tried in the living room and voila! he did it! He's still a little wobbly and will fall over after about 30 seconds but it's a start! Yeah Isaac!

Monster Party

2011-03-20T09:47:00.000-05:00

I know my kid is only 5 1/2 months old... but seriously, I'm already getting excited for his first birthday party. We've been to several 1-year old parties lately and they were all so stinkin cute. The decorations, food, cake, etc... was all coordinated. I'm definitely NOT creative and NOT a great party-planner, so this could be interesting.

For some reason we nicknamed Isaac the "Monster Man". I don't know why... we started it and it stuck. So how perfect is a "Monster" themed birthday party?!?!?

I found some super cute ideas online. I'm sure I'll change my mind a thousand times in the next 6 months, but I love this idea so far.

LOVE these invitations!

How cute are these goodies??

These favor baskets are great!

I wonder where one might find a pinata like this? Maybe I could harness my inner 5th grader and try to make one??

Of course the birthday boy would need one of these (etsy, etsy, ETSY!!)!

Or maybe one with his age... (did I mention ETSY?)

I'll probably change my mind over and over, but isn't this just too cute????

Bananas and Sweet Potatoes

2011-03-19T09:47:00.000-05:00

All a kid needs are bananas and sweet potatoes. Isaac LOVES them!

We tried bananas for the first time last night and they were a huge success. I think he liked the flavor, but thought the texture was weird, so he made a couple funny faces at first, but then gave this HUGE smile! I love it!

Here are a couple pictures of our banana-faced kid.

First bite... "Mom, why are you looking at me?"

LOVED them!!

Tissues Needed

2011-03-18T09:04:00.001-05:00

Sometimes when I read other blogs, I scan the list of blogs they read to look for anything interesting. On a friend's page, I came across a blog that looked interesting based on the most recent post title.

I clicked on the link and saw the blogger was writing about her pregnancy with twins. Then I noticed a small icon on the page with picture of a baby and the words : "Baby Cohen 6/7/10 - 6/18/10". I clicked around and realized this was their baby that passed away shortly after birth of congenital heart defects.

The bloggers documentation of the entire pregnancy from diagnosis, birth, surgeries and passing was heart wrenching. It took me several days and many tears to get through all the posts. I would literally cry and cry for them.

I think it impacted me so much for 2 reasons...
1) We had a scan of Isaac's heart at 23 weeks for congenital heart defects. Since I am Type 1 Diabetic, this complication was the highest probability for Isaac.
2) It brought back so many memories of Isaac in the NICU. Of course, his term in the NICU was insignificant compared to Baby Cohen but the photographs of the parents holding his little hands and crying for hours a day reminded me of us with Isaac.

Not exactly a story to brighten your day (sorry)... but I haven't had someone's story impact me this hard for a while. This couple also amazed me at how strong they were through the entire event by their faith in the Lord. I don't know how else they could have gotten through such a tragedy.

If you are interested and would like to read Baby Cohen's story.... here is the link. Warning, tissues needed.
http://www.inthiswonderfullife.com/p/cohens-story_01.html

Beautiful Weather

2011-03-17T10:02:00.000-05:00

Houston is HOT in the summer! Nebraska is also hot, but nothing like the balmy Houston weather.

We typically get nicer weather from October - April, but often still humid. The past couple of weeks have been the exception. They have been gorgeous!! I took a photo to capture the memory of the weather... thats right, 68 degrees and 17% humidity!!

In a few months when the A/C is running non-stop I can look at this picture and try to remember how nice Houston can be. :)

Strawberry Patch

2011-03-16T09:52:00.000-05:00

This weekend was gorgeous weather! We wanted to do something outside to enjoy it, but couldn't think of anything. A friend (thanks, Mandy!) posted about her trip with her kids to the Froberg Strawberry Patch. It looked like fun, so we drove the ~15 miles out to the farm after lunch on Sunday.

It was so much fun! Bryce carried Isaac around in the Baby Bjorn and we picked strawberries for about an hour. They also had sort of a farmers market in a barn on the property as well. Here are a few pictures from our fun time. Enjoy!

Anyone have any good recipes using strawberries? :)

Eat Your Heart Out Tom Cruise!

2011-03-15T09:48:00.000-05:00

I was in the kitchen cooking dinner on Sunday and Bryce was playing with Isaac in the living room. Bryce says... "Come out here and check out the next Tom Cruise". Then starts singing "Old Time Rock 'n Roll".

I walk out and see this. Yes... he stripped him down to his diaper and socks with the intention of being the next "Risky Business" baby. I about died.... :)

Trip to Nebraska

2011-03-14T09:46:00.002-05:00

We took a week-long trip to Lincoln last week. There were airplane mechanical problems each way that delayed us for ~2 hours each way. Seriously... each way?!?!?! We made it safely and Isaac did great despite the long waits in the airport. We had a great time visiting family and just relaxing. Isaac really did well sleeping in different places (I was really worried about that).

We had Isaac baptized at the same church I was baptized in as an infant. Our great friends, Tyson and Courtney are Isaac's Godparents. It was fun to get to seem them and their 2 kiddos, Hudson and Camden (not shown in the picture, but he is just 1 month younger than Isaac). We are so blessed to have them in our lives!

Isaac was also lucky enough to meet all of his living Great-Grandparents. Two of them required a few hours of driving to meet, but we made it work. Of course we had to take the "4 Generation" pictures. Isaac is so lucky to be able to meet so many of his Great-Grandparents!

4 Generations of Osborn's:

4 Generations of Crouch's:

4 Generations of Jakub's:

Isaac also got to spend some time with his cousin, Grant and other family!

The Jakub boys... with their boys.... :)

Isaac and Casie (my parent's Bichon). Hi Puppy!!

We also spent a lot of time just hanging out and relaxing. The weather was cold, but nice change from the warm Texas temperatures... we weren't disappointed to head back to Houston though. :)

All The Rave...

2011-03-13T10:32:00.000-05:00

We are big wine-o's. We have our friends, Justin and Dena to thank for that.... :) We probably go through 2-3 bottles per week even with my alcohol limitations while breastfeeding (only drinking a glass after Isaac goes to bed).

I'd heard about the brand of wine glass called Riedel. I was at Bed Bath and Beyond the other day and splurged on 2 glasses. They really aren't that expensive, but without my salary anything above basic needs is a splurge. :)

After giving them a try, I am a fan. Now I'd like to have glasses of every type (they make different glasses for each type of wine). Supposedly they are designed for optimal aeration for the type of wine. I seriously think wine tastes better in these glasses.

If you need a "splurge"... give them a try!

Resemblance #2

2011-03-10T09:27:00.001-06:00

When we were back in Nebraska, we looked at both of our baby books. I was able to get a few pictures of me when I was a baby (I didn't really have any before).

Now that we have better pictures... what do you think? I still see a little of both of us.

Baby Bryce:

Baby Kim:

Baby Isaac:

Solid Foods

2011-03-09T09:13:00.003-06:00

We started solids at 5 months. The first attempt of rice cereal resulted in cereal everywhere except his mouth, but we had fun.

A week later he was a pro! When we bring the spoon up to his mouth, he opens wide and lunges forward. He is pretty good at swallowing too and doesn't spit out too much.

After a week of rice cereal, we tried some carrots. I wish I would have gotten the experience on video. He opened wide, lunged forward and took in the spoon. Then immediately got this absolutely disgusted look on his face for about 10 seconds... then look puzzled, swallowed and smiled. I about died laughing! By the end of that bowl, he was a fan of the carrots. :)

Next week I'm thinking sweet potato or butternut squash.

Oh, and I am making my own baby food. It's super easy (30 min total, with about 10 min hands-on time for at least a couple weeks of carrots).

Here are 2 pictures from our first rice cereal experience.

5 Months

2011-03-08T15:09:00.000-06:00

I swear last week I was writing the 4 month post, and here we are at 5 months already! Since this is my last month at home I have a feeling it will go even faster.

We were in Nebraska for his actual 5 month "birthday" so this is a bit late.

Isaac Updates:

Approximately 15.5 lbs.
Smiling and laughing like crazy. He is already such a ham. I love it!
He eats like crazy. Around 7-8 oz, 5x's per day. No wonder I'm starving all the time!
Still sleeps 11 hours at night. He hasn't waken up during the night since December 14th, I'll take it!
He's still a horrible napper. We were doing well for a while, then one day something changed and his naps are ~45 min, 3 x's per day. He still eats 5x's per day, so once we switch to 4x's we will go down to 2 naps.
He finally rolled over from back to tummy. Just this week he started doing it everytime he's on his back. He will do it, then look at us for praise... I love it. :)
His grasping skills has improved so much. He loves to grab onto anything and put it in his mouth (of course).
We think teething may be starting. I got my bottom 2 teeth at 4 1/2 months and he just seems extra fussy lately.
His tear ducts are still obstructed. We went to the Pediatric Ophthalmologist and he will have to have them opened at around 6 months. Luckily they can do it in the office and not under anesthesia.
He had his first plane ride and first trip to Nebraska. He barely made a peep on the plane and did great sleeping at different places. More on this in a future blog....

Mommy Updates

Remaining baby weight: -2 lbs. Woohoo! I have to thank running and breastfeeding for that! I'm thankful to be able to wear my old clothes again. Sure beats the 3 pairs of pants and 5 shirts I had while I was pregnant.
I go back to work April 4th. Still looking forward to being back at work but of course dreading daycare. We took him to PeeWeeville at church for the first time this month and I cried for half the service. He did great, but I'm going to be a wreck! We start half days at daycare the week before I go back to work. I'm going to distract myself that week with some retail therapy. I haven't bought clothes in over a year (before I was pregnant) and am seriously overdue.
I ran the Austin Half Marathon (my second half marathon since Isaac was born) and be my previous time by over 2 min despite a hilly course. It was my first overnight trip away from him. I missed him like crazy, but had a fun time. I've got 2 more races this month (Seabrook Half Marathon Relay and Angie's Half Crazy Half Marathon).
I'm having mom-guilt about quitting breastfeeding, so I'm going to TRY to do it while working. I'm not sure how easily I'll be able to pump at work, but I'm going to try.
I'm somewhere around 600-ish oz of milk in the deep freeze.

A few photos from his 5 month "birthday":

A few cute pictures

2011-02-26T13:05:00.000-06:00

Since I won't be blogging much in the next week, I didn't want to leave you hanging without any cute pictures! So, here are a few from the past week!

Sewing and Travels

2011-02-25T12:32:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow we leave for Nebraska for an entire week. I'm kind of freaking out on how we are going to manage to get all our of stuff + Isaac's stuff in 2 bags. It wouldn't be so bad if it were summer, but it's 15 degrees in Lincoln today which means lots of heavy, warm sweaters!

I've been trying to keep a running list all week of the items I use with Isaac to make sure I don't forget anything. It's about a page long on notebook paper.

I haven't packed or done anything yet, but I suppose that will be on the agenda for this afternoon.

A super creative friend of mine always seems to be sewing fun little projects for family. I swear every time she visits a family member she brings along a little handmade project for that person. I'm definitely no where as talented or committed to these fun little gifts, but I thought I would put something together in my free time.

I shamelessly stole this cute bag idea from her blog. It was really simple and only took about 1.5 days of sewing during daytime naps (so maybe 3 hours total). I'm proud of my little bag and can't wait to give it to Jill. I hope she likes it!

Since this one was easy and turned out cute, I think I'll make a few more and give them away. I can already envision the fabric choices for a few people I have in mind. :)

Here are a few pictures of my recent creation! Now time to stop procrastinating and go pack!

Swim Shopping

2011-02-23T08:44:00.000-06:00

Shopping for a swim suit was difficult before I had a kid... now it's near impossible.

I usually get a swimsuit from J.Crew but honestly, I'm not loving them this year. I've been checking out a few different places and kind of like Athleta. Anyone ever tried their swim suits before?

This one is cute...

They have a variety of coordinating bottoms. I feel like the ones shown in the picture are really "mom-ish" so I'll probably get something different. I haven't decided on a color yet either.

Boys Weekend

2011-02-22T08:47:00.002-06:00

Since I was in Austin, Bryce has Isaac duty all by himself over the weekend. He did great! Isaac slept great and took a few good naps as well.

Of course, I missed them both terribly. Bryce sent me phone pictures throughout the weekend so I could check up on my guys. Here are a few of those pictures...

This picture came with a "I miss my Mommy" caption. Tear my heart out!

Bryce kept talking all week about how he wanted to build a fort with Isaac. I didn't think he was actually serious... but they did it. A fort!

Bryce sent me a picture of the baby monitor so show he was sleeping soundly. (Isaac is a side sleeper these days).

Austin Half Marathon

2011-02-21T10:53:00.002-06:00

Well, I finished... and it was HARD! The only harder races I've done were the San Francisco Half Marathon and the Houston Full Marathon.

To narrate the weekend, I'd better start with Saturday night. I NEVER sleep well the night before races. I didn't fall asleep until about 12:30 am, woke up at 2am for about 15 min, then fell asleep until 3:30. That was it... a little less than 3hours of sleep. Yikes!

We left Christine's apartment at 5:30 am and were parked 4 blocks from the start line (also Texas state capital) at 5:36 am. Hmmm... okay, that didn't take nearly as long as we expected.

We chatted for a few minutes about the race then I pumped and we headed to the start at about 6:10 am. I needed to use the restroom so we stood in line with the other racers at the port-a-potties then headed to the start line at about 6:40. It was 66 degrees and 95% humidity. Yuck!

Christine was doing the 5k, so at that point we parted ways. I walk into the mass of 18,000 runners and find my position on the mob by the pace signs. The wheelchair racers were leaving at 6:50 am and right as the announcers were saying... "Ready, Set, Go!" I realized I FORGOT MY iPOD!!!!!

I freaked out and didn't know what to do. I made a quick decision to race back to the car to get it. With the actual marathon/half marathon starting in just 10 min I had to be quick! My Garmin was turned on and for the 4 blocks I ran a 7:30 - 8:00 min/mile pace. It's always great to sprint 2/3 of a mile before a race even begins. Yikes!

I made it back to my position at the start line at about 6:57 am... whew.

Three minutes later, the race starts!! The scenery was gorgeous, but I can't fully express how crazy the hills were. They weren't long, but incredibly steep. I felt like every 1/2 a mile I was running up the Kemah bridge. Miles 3-6 were a continuous uphill climb, but it wasn't steep so didn't feel that bad. Miles 1-3 and 9-13 were really tough. I had studied the elevation chart before the race so I thought I knew what I should expect, but I didn't fully appreciate it.

To make it worse, the sun came out at mile 10. Now it was hot, humid, hilly and sunny!!

I ran a 2:08:55 at Houston 3 weeks earlier and I was hoping for a 2:05 in Austin (I ran a 2:02 last weekend... but no hills). Until about mile 10, I was on pace to do a 2:05, but really slowed down towards the end as the hills just kept rolling.

My final time was 2:06:42. I didn't make my goal time, but I'm not disappointed since the hills were much worse than I expected.

All together a fun time! Here are a few pictures I took on my phone.

Christine and I pre-race. Texas state capital in the background.

At the start line with the 18,000 other runners (sans iPod at this point!).

My finisher medal. The colored buildings in the middle are made of recycled glass. Cool, huh?

My paces by mile:

Mile 1: 9:22

Mile 2: 9:27

Mile 3: 9:28

Mile 4: 9:50

Mile 5: 9:37

Mile 6: 9:39

Mile 7: 9:16

Mile 8: 9:18

Mile 9: 9:27

Mile 10: 9:40

Mile 11: 10:00

Mile 12: 9:54

Mile 13: 9:54

Mile 13.1: 8:09

Average pace: 9:35 / mile

Here is a screenshot of the elevation data download from my garmin. Crazy!

Trip to Austin.... Sans Baby

2011-02-19T10:21:00.004-06:00

In about 45 min, I leave for my first weekend trip away from Isaac!!! I'm excited, nervous and sad all at the same time.

My sister (Christine) moved to Austin in December so I will be staying with her. I'm running the Austin Half Marathon on Sunday and can't wait. I'm a bit nervous since it's an unfamiliar course and appears to be pretty hilly... check out the course elevation profile below. Weather looks to be yucky (humid and warm), so I doubt I'll have a post-baby PR, but it should be fun.

This will also be Bryce's first weekend alone with Isaac. I am putting some of that 500 oz of frozen breast milk to good use.

I think he's a little nervous too, but they will do great. Of course, being the crazy person I am, I printed "instructions" for Bryce in case he needs help. I just fear that Isaac will get too far off schedule and not sleep all night for Bryce. Isaac hasn't woken up during the night since December 15th, so I don't know why it would suddenly change, but I made the sheet anyway. :)

So with trusty Medela in hand... off I go! Wish me luck!

My Fashionista

2011-02-18T12:29:00.003-06:00

We will be heading back to Nebraska for a week in just 8 days. I wanted to get Isaac a pair of shoes for the trip since it will be much colder in Nebraska... and also just because I wanted to. :) He had a cute pair of newborn loafers, but they fit for.... like, a day. I also bought some cute shoes that were on sale from See Kai Run in December, but they are 9-12 month size and not even close to fitting yet.

I tried to find some cheaper shoes since he doesn't walk or crawl but was not successful. I looked online and at Target but just didn't find any I liked. I also prefer actual shoes v. the elastic back slip-ons that you can find for non-walkers. Just a weird preference.

Did you know you can buy the cutest Kenneth Cole Reaction shoes for babies? Seriously adorable shoes... but also $60-$80 a pair (check out Piperlime.com). I didn't buy those...

I bought a pair of pedipeds online (see below). I paid $25 for them, which is more than I wanted since he will probably wear them for about a week, but I just couldn't find any cheaper ones I liked.

He will certainly be fashionable for our trip back to the Cornhusker state!

Moody

2011-02-17T12:35:00.002-06:00

Yes, I am moody. Unfortunately, Isaac appears to have gotten this characteristic.

Some days he just wakes up on the wrong side of the crib and has a horrible day. Bad naps, bad temper.... just yuck.

Today is one of those days.

After our nearly non-existent nap this morning, I took him for a walk to get him to settle down. Doesn't this kid just look cranky today??????

After our walk, I fed him then we went to Target. He was happy in Target... but seriously, who isn't happy in Target? Love that place.

Back home... back to cranky. Thank goodness it's a running day. I'll be hitting the pavement for 4 miles this evening to de-stress.

Mom's Day Out

2011-02-16T09:08:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, I had several things I had to take care of outside the house so Bryce was able to come home late morning and work from home so I could take care of them while he watched Isaac.

One of these things was having lunch with my work group. My boss took the group out for lunch at Maggiano's at the Galleria. Yum-o!! Why did I get invited to work lunch when I haven't been at work for 4 1/2 months?... well, it was to celebrate 2010 accomplishments/successes.

It was SO MUCH fun to get to see everyone and have the awnry banter back and forth my coworkers and I always do. It was kind of weird, but I felt I like I just picked up with them right where I left off.

I didn't worry about Isaac really at all and even caught myself sort of "forgetting" about him. Well, not really forgetting, but just not thinking about him constantly... you know what I mean....

After the few hours at lunch, I had a few other appointments and things to take care of and got home a little after 4pm. Such a fun day! I think it also helped confirm for me that I am excited to go back to work and that it will be good for both Isaac and I. Day care will be tough at first, but I think the overall benefits of having myself be more well-rounded (mentally) will be positive for both of us in the end.

I was excited to get home and see my little guy again. Happy to say that he and Dad and a fun day together. :)

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-15T08:15:00.000-06:00

I was lucky enough to have TWO Valentine's this year. Here's a few pictures of one of them!

One Year Ago Today

2011-02-13T19:26:00.001-06:00

We found out that life was about to completely change....

Jakub Family

It's ours!!!

House hunting update

Funny!

What you get for the money...

New Adventures

Oh J Crew, what have you done...

Spoon training

Jakub Visit to TX!

Olympic Trials

26.2 again!

Christmas!

Mercury Glass

Christmas Project

If Heaven Was a Fabric Store...

Great Giveaway!

Mmmm, Carrot Cake

10 days out!

Thankful to be home!

A replacement (and upgrade!)

Hello from somewhere in Oklahoma!

Christmas came a little early this year

Found It!

Sam and Marie

I'm Lovin It!

Bazinga!

My Love-Hate Relationship with 26.2

1-Year Pictures in Nebraska

Hello!

Starting Early

Eat Real!

I almost forgot!

What is this Pinterest thing?

It's Here! It's Here!

We did it! *GASP*

LOVE this!

Fairy Godmother Project

Child Proofing

Go Me!

Happy 1st Birthday Isaac!

Birthday Weekend

Last One

Two Out of Three

11 Months!

Practicing

Learning

Mom

Ozzie Vegas Trip

Trip to Nebraska

9 Months (whoops!)

Nasolacrimal Duct Probing and Intubation

Isaac Waving!

6 Month Pictures

Outtakes

8 Months

My Boobs Hurt...

Swinging

Farewell "Great White"

End Of A 2 Month String

Super Cute PJ's

4!

Ye or Nay?

Friday Randoms

First Mother's Day!

7 Months

Let's Go for a Ride

Family Picnic

The Hardest Part...

Happy Spring!

Homemade Hummus

Back to Life, Back to Reality

6 Months

Back to Work

The Pictures Say It All...

Half Marathon from.....

Texas Bluebonnets

No More Peas

Little Rolling Baby

Sitting Up!

Monster Party

We did it! GASP