Monday, June 25, 2007

So, I got a new car

I've managed to avoid blogging about my car situation for awhile. Up until this weekend, I'd been driving a Chevy Trailblazer. They came out in 2004, and we bought one the first year they came out. I loved that car. It was a good sized SUV - big enough to make me feel safe on the road, but not as big as a boat either. It had some great features too and I really did love driving it.

But, a couple of months ago, things changed. I'd gone to meet some friends and their kids downtown for lunch. On the way back, I noticed that my car was acting funny. Being a long way from home, and having 2 kids who were ready for their nap, I was very annoyed. Still, I was worried about what was wrong, so I called the car dealer to see if I could swing by and get my car checked out. They were all booked up for the day, so I made an appointment for the next morning, and started home. Just in case though, I decided to stay off of the freeway, which made my drive even longer, but I figured it would be best to avoid breaking down on the freeway.

I made the right choice. I stopped at a stoplight about 5 miles from home, and my car wouldn't go when the light changed. I called Hubby from work to come and help, and then I called OnStar.

I suppose I should post an aside now about OnStar. GM offers it on all their vehicles, and I suppose the 24-hour roadside assistance is nice (I used it twice in 3 years). But I do think it is funny now, in retrospect, that some car manufacturers offer 100,000 mile warranties, etc, but GM just promises that if you have car trouble, they'll be there to help you (with a small monthly fee). Its almost as if they're saying "hey, are cars are crap. But if (er, when) you do break down, we're just a push of a button away".

Anyway, back to my story. My car got towed to the dealer. It turned out that my transmission was shot (did I mention there was only 47,000 miles on the car?). So, 10 days and almost $4,000 later, I got my car back. The first time I drove it, I knew something wasn't right. I called the repairman, and he towed my car in for free. He checked it out, and said nothing was wrong - although he cleaned the pistons for free, because they were misfiring (or something like that). I had my car back the next day.

I drove it for about 2 months, and the transmission still never felt right to me. Finally, hubby drove the car, and he too admitted that the transmission wasn't right. So, back to the repair shop we went. This time, at least the transmission was under warranty. After 10 more days and our 3rd transmission, we got the vehicle back.

Hubby wanted to drive over to the Acura dealer that night and trade in the Trailblazer. I told him that I felt we should keep the car for awhile and just "wait and see". The thought of a car payment made me sick. So, after a heated discussion (big fat fight) we decided to keep the car. Until the next day when I tried to go to the store and my car wouldn't start. AGAIN.

I had to call hubby at work, tell him the car was broken again, and wait for an "I told ya so".

{{SIGH}}

We actually got the car going by jump-starting it. It sat and idled for an hour in the driveway (we were afraid to turn it off) and then hubby drove the car to trade it in. I didn't even go, and I told him that I trusted him to pick out my car - I just wanted something reliable.

Which I got!

He came home with a sweet, fully-loaded, Acura MDX. It has more features than I can figure out - navigation system, DVD player, heated seats. It even has a back-up camera (mounted on the back fender so I don't hit anything when I back up). Its way more car than I have ever needed or wanted, but I LOVE it.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Thoughts on weaning

Bryn is still a boobie baby.  She'll be 16 months old next week, and I still nurse her twice a day.  She eats first thing in the morning, and right before bed at night.  Its not a hard-fast rule.  If I'm not there at bed time, she'll happily go to sleep without me.  And she naps during the day just fine.  I know that she doesn't need me, but I think that I need her.
 
Some days I miss my babies so much.  I feel like their cute little-babyness is slipping away so fast, and I'm missing out while I'm at work.  It assuages my guilt a bit to feel like I'm still contributing to her growth and development.  Besides, I love our cuddle time.  She's such a busy toddler now, but I have those precious moments where she'll still lie still with me.  I'm not ready to give up those moments.
 
We have our nursing routine down.  First thing she needs is her "bees" (her blankie with bees on it).  She snuggles up with the bees, and then nurses.  She loves for me to kiss her fingers and toes while she's laying there smiling and sucking.  Sometimes she'll take my finger and move it up to her face, signaling that she wants me to stroke her cheek.  I think that is the sweetest thing she does. 
 
I know that our nursing days are numbered.  She's getting entirely too big, and she's started biting sometimes.  And, daddy wants me to wean - and he's very vocal about it.
 
I'm not sure why it bugs him so much that I still nurse.  Sometimes I feel its that he's embarrassed to have a wife that nurses a toddler.  It is true that I've been either pregnant or nursing (or both) since August of 2003.  That is 4 straight years where my body has been nourishing another.  But, I love it.  Part of me doesn't want Bryn to grow up and change - she's so perfectly sweet the way she is right now.  As long as she's nursing, she's still my baby.

Monday, June 11, 2007

I think I'm back

Friday night, after we got the girls bathed and in PJs, I had DH drive me 5 miles away from home. He dropped me off, and I had to run back. I had him take me straight west from our house, to the foothills of the Oquirrh (pronounced Oak-er) Mountains.

It was a gorgeous run. The temperature was in the 60s, and the setting sun was at my back. My shadow cast out long in front of me. The first mile was uphill, but after that the run was downhill. I passed about 20 deer, and had the most amazing view of the mountains around the valley. The best part of the run was how I felt - strong and alive. It was the feeling that I was born to run. I didn't try to push myself - I just ran at a steady pace (except for the big downhills, which always cause me to run faster). I stepped on my porch at 59:58, just 2 seconds shy of a full hour. For me, that's a descent training pace.

Saturday night, DH and I had a night to ourselves. His mom took our kids, so we decided to go for a hike. It was an impromptu hike, so we were both in flip-flops. But, we chose Donut Falls. Its a perfect short hike - only 1.5 round-trip. There is a slight incline, but its a fairly flat hike that goes in and out of dense lodgepole pine and quaking aspen forests. The falls themselves are incredible. The water falls into a hole in the rock, and comes out on the other side. It is incredibly beautiful, and was a wonderful evening. And I didn't even get out of breath on the hike. I wanted to run!

I feel reconnected and rejuvenated. I think my boredom is coming from treadmill (aka dreadmill) running. I need to spend more time outside.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Struggling a bit

My diet and exercise routine has suffered a bit the last couple of weeks.  I had been doing really well until 2 weekends ago, when I went to Moab.  I got really sick while I was down there - kind of a gastric, painful, strange illness.  I'm still not sure what I had.  But it took me several days to feel better.  I tried to run through it, but my running suffered.  And most foods made me really nauseated, so I was kind of eating whatever I could stomach.  I did end up running 14 miles last week, including a long run of 6 miles.  So it wasn't a hopeless week.
 
But since then, running has been less fun.  I have been unable to drag myself out of bed in the mornings, so I've been trying to slog through it at night.  That may be part of the problem - I hate running at night, when I'm tired from the day and have 1 million other things that I should be doing.  And, since my hubby has been gone every night this week, I'm on total kid duty.  That just adds to the stress.
 
I've only done 4.5 miles so far this whole week.  Monday I tried to run before G went to bed.  I had 4 on the schedule, but only did 2.25 because she was trying to run on the TM with me.  So I figured I'd do 4 Tuesday night after G went to bed.  Well, I fell asleep accidentally with her, and didn't wake up until 11:15 when DH came home.  It was too late to run.  Then yesterday, I gave blood at lunch time.  I had still planned to do my 4 last night, but barely got 2.25.  I hadn't given blood in quite awhile, and had forgotten the whole "don't exercise on the day you give blood" thing.  I just about died last night.
 
So, I've still got about 10 miles to complete in just 2 days of running.  I wasn't supposed to do a long run this week (doing the 2 steps forward, 1 step back training program).  But, I think I'll have to do one long run this weekend to get it all in.
 
{{SIGH}}

I hope I get some of my motivation back.

My diet has suffered as well.  Lately I feel like I'm constantly hungry and always craving food.  I haven't been too good about staving off the cravings, and I've given in a bit.
 
In fact, I haven't lost a pound in close to 3 weeks.  I'm stuck at 160, and so badly want to see the next lowest decade of weight.  Well - I supposed if I really wanted it badly, I'd be working harder.  Right?

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Who needs sleep anyway?

Certainly not me (or so my children think).
 
I probably should write a post on how Bryn still continues to not sleep - how she has only slept through the night a few times in her entire life.  And how lately, she doesn't want to go back to sleep after her midnight waking.  But that would be old news.  And anyway, who wants to hear me complain?

I think I'm going to post about my big girl - who used to be my good sleeper.  I think we maybe ruined her by moving her from the crib too early.  She seemed old enough, and definitely ready.  But since she got into her "big girl bed" at only 20 months, it hasn't been the same.
 
I'm embarrassed to admit this:  I haven't slept in the same bed as my husband in months.  I'm always in bed with G.  She can't fall asleep if I'm not there.  When I do leave, she wakes up crying for me.  Its easier that I just stay there.
 
We don't have this issue for naptime.  She can fall asleep on her own, and sleep for 3 hours by herself during the day.  But night time is scary for her.  She closes her eyes and sees "scary pretend monsters".  I've tried reasoning with her.  I've gone to the store for magic night lights that make all the scary pretend monsters go away.  I've tried to be firm - even mean.  And I've even left her to CIO (which really doesn't work when the child can just get out of bed).  In the end, I've resorted to sleeping in the same bed as my 3 year old.
 
I keep hoping that she'll grow out of it, which I know she eventually will (she won't be coming home from the prom to lay in bed with her mommy), but if anything her fears seem to be getting worse.  I'm at my wit's end.  I'm tired and I want to get a full night of sleep.  I want to sleep in my own comfortable bed with my husband (even if he does snore like a lumberjack).
 
I do love the "pillowtalk" that G and I have while she's falling asleep.  She will ask me to tell her a story from my head - usually about a princess.  She will tell me about her day.  Last night I heard all about how Miss C at daycare taught her to never open the door for strangers, and how little H loves to bite the other kids.  I think I know way more about her 3 year old life than other parents of kids in daycare.
 
I especially love how she wants to hold my hand while she falls asleep, and when she cuddles her little warm body up against mine.  I do think that I've had an incredible opportunity to bond with my sweetie in ways that many parents miss out on.  So, I assume it really isn't all bad.  I mostly just wish I could sleep more.
 
I'm tired.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Another fun weekend

True to form, one of my kids got sick this weekend.  While I do appreciate the fact that they are learning that weekend illness disrupts the family schedule the least, I do miss having weekends without sick kids.
 
I knew Gracelin was feeling a bit sick on Friday - she barely ate and complained that she had a headache.  But we had a fun day, including a trip to the splash pad, and I thought she was ok.  Ben was out all evening, so after I got the girls in bed, I headed to the treadmill for a 6 mile run.  After my run, the kids were still quiet so I decided to take an ice bath (the greatest way to keep sore muscles at bay).
 
I had barely shut off the (cold) bath water, when I heard G screaming for me.  Pretty soon, she was in the bathroom.  In her pathetic voice, she told me that she was sick, and sad that I was in the bath.  I hurried out of the bath, and carried her to her room.  She felt really warm - warmer than she should have felt to my ice bathed body.  I took her temp and it was 105.6.
 
Now in the past, a temp of 105.6 would have made me hysterical.  But I've come to realize that my poor little girl is prone to high fevers (the highest I've seen is 107.1 - which earned her a trip to the ER).  This night though, I dosed her with Motrin and Tylenol, got her a drink, and cuddled her in bed.  Her feverish mind was working in hyper drive, and she was telling me the funniest things.  Recently, her daddy had taken her to a water park, and she was reliving the entire day at warp speed - with the added part about the alligators in the lazy river.
 
It became apparent rather quickly that this was going to be a long night.  And pretty soon, I started feeling sick.  I had to leave the room 3 times to puke.  Finally at 11 pm, I called Daddy to come home and help us - which he dutifully did.
 
The next morning, the girls were up early, just like always.  And being the nice daddy that he is, he took the girls for bagels and then to visit Grandma M.  I got to sleep past 10 am (which I haven't done by the way, since April 28, 2004).  Then I took a shower with no one pounding on the door.  I also got to do dishes with no one climbing into the dishwasher and do a load of laundry with no one climbing into the dryer.  It was a good morning. 
 
Finally my sweet family came home.  Poor little G was still really sick, so it was off to instacare.  I was worried she had another UTI, since she was complaining of "spicy pee".  She even peed into the "hat" without major trauma, but her urine was clean.  The Dr took one look into her throat, and immediately knew she had strep.
 
Not that I was happy G was sick, but I just love when my kids have something easy to treat.  After only 2 doses of amoxicillin and a long nap, G woke up covered in sweat but fever-free.  As I changed her clothes, I remarked to her that she had broken her fever.  She started to apologize, but I explained to her that a fever is a good thing to break.