snow again, Tom's on his way home and training

Tom is on his way home right now. He'll be returning to Madison to almost a foot of snow... GEEZ! Happy first day of spring! I feel bad for him having to come home from a long trip and have to shovel copious amounts of snow. It is forecasted that it will snow again later in the week... joy. Spring, eh? Based on last year's photos it will be snowing early in the month and we'll be wearing short sleeves by the end of the month.

Today I was scheduled to run 40 mins so we headed out ... Jason and Lily in the bike trailer with dad and me running... on our normal route. I finished the short (4.3mile) route in 33 mins while I normally finish it in 38 mins so I kept going. I ended up running 5.5 miles in 41 mins.. thats 7.5 mins/mile. WHAT THE!!!!?? How the hell did I do that? That's just crazy! I've NEVER EVER run more than a mile that fast. I can't believe it. According to my watch my heart rate maxed at around 189... though I never saw it more than 164 when I was tracking it during my run... and it was only above 160 for 14 mins of the run. Anyway. I felt that I was pushing myself, but not 7.5 min/mile pushing myself. WOW! I'm pretty surprised that I was running that fast.

Tomorrow is a 2 hour bike ride then a 1 hour run on Sunday. Andy, if you even read this thing, don't worry I'll keep my heart rate down around 155 for the long stuff. :)

One more week in Texas then I'm back in the gym. BOO HOO!

Sleep update

Just wanted to give a quick sleep update... in hopes that I don't jinx myself. We have had a MUCH easier time.. who is WE? I guess I have had a much easier time of getting them down. Tom is still in Asia.. though he is probably enroute to Madison as I type this. Good luck on your trip Tom... it's a long one folks.

Jason and Lily have both gone down rather easily and have been sleeping through the night for the last two nights. Thank you Super Nanny! They are napping a bit later in the day and are going to bed around 7pm now instead of 6pm. This will be great when we get home... we've been eating dinner together - which I love - and they will be able to hang w/ daddy for a while w/out him having to haul ass to get home. Tonight Papa took them for a bike ride while I fixed dinner... it was SO nice!

They are growing by leaps and bounds... both physically and mentally. Their vocabulary is amazing and they are remembering things now... Like chucking their (his) Crocks out of the bike trailer for them to never be seen again. Lily was putting on her "Croc shoes" and Jason wanted to put his on and Grandma said, "your croc shoes are gone" and Jason said, "throw away". It's amazing to me that they are remembering things and understanding them. You expect these things to be gradual, but they seem to happen over night.

That's all I got right now. I've (and by "I" I mean dad) finally finished the taxes for the Green Girls, LLc and I'm much relieved... Now I just need to make sure I stay on top of it more this year... and YOU PEOPLE need to go to www.greengirlsguide.com and BUY SOME FREAKIN' BAGS!!!! RIGHT NOW! ha :) We got new designs.. both for adult and for KIDS... they are great! We were selling like hot cakes on Amazon, but recently found out that that is a no no so we are back to just selling on the site and are rethinking some things regarding store front vs blog...so tell all your friends about our amazingly cool and ENVIRONMENTALLY friendly bags! Shameless plug over.

Training is still going well... had to juggle some things this week and I've only been in the water once ... not a good place for me to slack... but it's proving more difficult to get in the water... I currently have no access to a pool and apparently Texans think it's still too cold to swim outside or something. I've been riding outside and I've got to say it feels amazing ... I went to a spin class last night and about wanted to slit my wrists b/c I was SO BORED! How did I do this all winter? I'll be back in the gym when I get back so I'll be a bit depressed until the end of April. Well I can run outside, but riding is just ... well... not that same indoors.

Still eating vegan and mostly raw and feeling amazing! I do eat quite a bit, but who cares... I burned 800 calories today! Loving my green smoothies and my big salads. I swear the more greens you eat the more you crave. I love to have my enormous salad in the evening.

Enough about me..... gotta go check up on my blogs.

Pictures pictures pictures

I'm still trying to load pics... and my time is running out. I need to get back b/c the kids are going to be up soon.

On the sleep thing... took over 30 mins to get J down last night.. then he woke at 11:30pm again and we played super nanny for an hour again. I thought I was going to die I was tired. He woke AGAIN at 5:45 am and came to my bed. I figured I had at most 30 mins till Lily woke up so I put him in bed w/ me. I rolled over w/ my back to him b/c he was kicking me and I fell asleep (I mentioned that I was tired right) I woke up and didn't feel him laying against me and thought, "oh shit, WHERE is he." I sat up and looked over he was laying ON my pillow.. his whole body. I was on the very edge of it and his head was up against mine. We slept until 8am. THANK YOU SLEEPING GODS!!!! I needed that.

CRAP... now I can't get the stupid photobucket thing to work... first the videos now the images. CRAP. What does everyone else use? I'm about done w/ Photobucket.

Must go home.. will have to try again another time. This is crap!

Stupid Starbucks.

I usually go to a coffee shop (not Starbucks) down the street, but it's closed on Sundays so dad and I rolled over to Starbucks so I could upload photos. We got our drinks and sat down only to discover that you have to PAY for wi fi. Who the hell does that? What year is it? I can't remember the last time I went to a coffee shop where you had to PAY to use the internet. I was so peeved. No more starbucks for me! I'm so irritated!

So I apologize AGAIN for no photos. (Sorry Tom) I will try again tomorrow night.

This morning we did our run again.. w/ dad pulling the kids in a trailer on his bike. Ran 7 miles in an hour... unheard of for me in my previous running life... especially after a 60 mile bike ride the day before. I felt great. :)

Then this afternoon we went to the Houston zoo... oh my how I love my small town zoo. It was CRAZY busy in there. Letting the kids loose was a bit nerve wracking. They would run into a crowd of people and disappear for a moment. We had mom, dad, myself, aunt Susan, cousin Amanda, and my second cousins Colby (5), Kolton (4), and Kristen (9). We had a lot of fun, but damn I'm beat tonight. :) Jason and Lily had a great time looking at all the animals and petting the goats... Jason attempted to eat some "raisins" (goat poop), but mom caught him before he picked any up. Jason's favorite part was the snake and the helicopter that kept taking off from the neighboring hospital. He also loved being 'free range'.. I tried to allow him to direct his own day as much as I could b/c I feel like I've been spending a lot of time telling him "no" and "don't touch". I think he really enjoyed it.

Lily loved the play ground and playing in the leaves at the end of the day. I think she's just happy to be running around outside and doesn't care much what she's doing as long as she is getting some fresh air.

Jason is so tired that he fell asleep twice today. Once in the bike trailer and once in the car on the way home from the zoo. They didn't get their nap today b/c of the zoo schedule. He was less than happy about being woken up when we stopped for dinner.

For those of you that might be curious about how the "super nanny" approach is going to bed time. I told the kids that after we read books I was going to rock them, put them in bed, and then leave so they could go to bed. Lily screamed for a bit, but didn't get out of her crib (unless she is currently sleeping on the floor). Jason and I spent 7 mins going back and forth.. MUCH less than the 20 mins we did it last night.... we'll see what happens tomorrow night.

So proud of myself.

Okay, I'm not proud of myself for getting to the coffee shop today to load any much promised pictures. I WILL get it done... eventually. Sorry.

I rode 60 miles today. I only needed to do a 2 hour ride, but I found this tri group.. and they were doing a social ride today. Either 40 miles (which is what I needed) or a 60 mile. We got to the 20 mile mark and I felt pretty good so I decided to keep going. I thought I was going to regret it, but it was FANTASTIC. I stayed strong and don't feel like I'm going to die tonight. I was a little worried b/c the day before yesterday I didn't eat enough (and I've heard it's not the day before the work out that matters so much as the day before that). So I ate a lot of dense foods yesterday and had a great big green smoothie this morning and was great. I ate three Lara Bars on the ride and it worked great. I was out of ripe bananas or I'm sure I would have had some of those too. It felt great to be outside on my bike. We rode out on country/farm roads much like the Wisconsin roads. I had 3.5 hours of almost alone time. It was the best. I got a half day w/ the kids and I totally needed the break. I felt like a much better mom after that.

Last night was another bad bedtime routine night. I've created bad habits. The kids have gotten used to me staying in the room while they fall asleep and it's been lasting longer and longer and longer. I've been so tired that I usually fall asleep during the whole thing. Me on the floor and them in their beds. I used to just let them figure it out and cry some, but now they can get out of their beds so that doesn't work. I lost it last night so I sent my mom up... after I fell asleep and woke up to them STILL awake. Mom ended up separating them last night. Tonight I was sitting in Jason's room while mom was in w/ Lily. Jason was just about asleep I stopped rubbing his back and he looked like he was sleeping so I tried to walk out and he flipped telling me to "sit down". I sat there for a while and he wouldn't go to sleep b/c he had to keep checking to see if I was still there. I decided that this was ridiculous. I am the adult and I shouldn't have to sit in their room for over an hour for them to go to sleep. (it had been almost an hour since we started the books etc). I decided if I was going to be spending so much time w/ their bed time thing I was going to do it right and stop taking the easy way. (which was pissing me off) I told Jason I was going to leave the room and it was time to go to bed. I walked out and he freaked. Jumped out of his bed and followed me. I picked him up put him in his bed and told him it was time for bed. I walked out. The next time he came out I just super nannied him. I picked him up w/o a word or hug and put him back in the bed and walked out. He pulled out all the stops, "mommy hug", "mommy sit", "Mommy rock a bye", "mommy rub back". I just kept doing it over and over again. I most proud of myself for not getting mad at him. (like I usually do) It wasn't a big deal to me this time for some reason. Could be the ride could be the feealing that I was being an active parent and doing the right thing. (FYI: Granny had left Lily's room already and she was asleep through this whole thing)

I'm sure we have a few more nights of this and I"m guessing we'll need to do this again when we get home. Now the question is do we transition them to toddler beds when we get home... since we are / have already done the work. :)

While I was riding the kids went on a bike ride w/ Gpa and met Gma at the park for a picnic. They saw a bunch of turtles and some ducks and had a great time! They also go to go for a bike ride w/ Gpa yesterday while I ran and we will probably do that again tomorrow... though I'm not sure they can hang for a whole hour.

Lily continues to amaze me w/ how much she has changed in the last couple of weeks. Her language has exploded. If you ask her what her name is she will say, "Sissy Mount" So cute how she calls herself Sissy. She will respond to Lily, but always calls herself Sissy. I still struggle w/ carving out moments for just Lily during the day.

Pictures to come soon.

Virtual Hug

I just wanted to hop on here quickly to document the Virtual Hug. On the drive down Jason constantly wanted me to hug him... while I was driving. So I started the Virtual Hug. I would cross my hands and make a 'hug' sound. The first time he requested a virtual hug it took me a while to figure out what he was saying, but now he and Lily both ask for virtual hugs while we are driving.

Okay, must go. Lily is at the bottom of the stairs saying, "mommy kiss" so I better go. They were up again last night for an hour... when oh when does that end?

Language and escaping....

Oh my god the kid's language has EXPLODED! Jason is talking like he's five years old.. he'll repeat anything and everything, but also uses things in context. I was carrying him today and I tripped and he said, "careful mommy." How do kids do this.. just amazing! Lily is also talking in sentences now too... her quick transformation from non-talker to talker is amazing! They are both requesting songs in the car and underdogs at the play ground. Jason is looking even more like a boy now complete w/ scrapes and bruises from climbing, running and falling. :)

We got them some sunglasses (to go w/ their crocks.. ha) the other day and they both actually like to wear them. Lily likes to wear them on her head like mommy when she doesn't need them. I have pics on my camera, but rushed out the door w/o it when I left to come to the coffee shop.

Also on the language front Papa is working hard to teach them SHIT. Not on purpose (I assume), but by accidentally saying it... A LOT! Even when he's speaking directly to them. At least now I can blame all bad language that comes out of their mouth on their grandfather instead of myself!

So Jason now knows how to get out of the pack n play. PLEASE if you have advice as to what to do about this let me know. I'm in TROUBLE. He did it in the hotel one night, but I thought he was only able to do it b/c he could reach the bed spread on the bed, but today when we put him down for his nap we heard a thud (I thought it was a water cup or book) then heard 'Mama hug" and it sounded a bit closer / clearer than it would from behind a door in a crib. I went running up there and he was standing in the doorway of the office (which is NOT baby proofed). At least he stayed in the office right? I tried sitting in the room w/ them, but they just stared screwing around and talking to me so I left the room and not a minute later I heard, "mama hug" again, but his time w/o the thud so now he can get out w/o injury so I'm sure he will continue to do it. I left Gma in the room w/ them hoping they would settle down w/ her in there. UGH! Having this happen in my own home would be one thing, but is this the time to transition them to toddler beds? UGH!!!! And where would I do this? None of the rooms are really baby proofed to that degree.... ideas? HELP!

We are here!!

(Note the comparison of this picture to the one in my header from one year ago.)

We made it safely to Texas and are enjoying the weather .... though today it was only 52 degrees.

Here we are at our first dinner stop. We got them backpacks. Lily was thrilled ... Jason, not so much.


Our trip down was as good as could be expected. We did the drive in two days. After the first night we decided that we didn't care if the kids had to go to bed in the car for a bit we weren't going to stop to only drive another 3 hours the next day. The first night we both ended up sleeping w/ a baby and Lily was up and ready to rock and roll at 5:45am. JOY! Karen.. the good news is that they did eventually nap in the car.

Here is a post jammies ready for the last leg of the trip.


We were at the park at 8am the first morning we were here. They were READY to run. Jason has taken to saying "no pictures" (which he is doing here) and Lily runs EVERYWHERE!






We are having a good time and they slept for 11 hours last night... finally starting to catch up after readjusting to the condo, Lily's travels and our trip down. I would love a repeat performance tonight, but I never count on consecutive nights. :) I've learned my lesson! We are now sitting in the room w/ them allowing Jason to start to fall asleep to avoid his now LONG LOUD screaming fits when we put them down. I'm not sure what's up with that, but Tom started just going in and sitting in the room until Jason settled down and just about fell asleep. I think it's somewhat confusing and distracting for Lily so far, but hopefully it will work for both of them.

I'm having a REALLY hard time getting in the groove to train for my race. I was in a really great space before I took the trip to Portland, but now I am all screwed up and totally unmotivated and kind of wondering what the hell I was thinking signing up for this thing. It's not just about me anymore. Now their are kids and others (to watch the kids) involved in me needing to go out and ride my bike for 2.5 hours. CRAP CRAP CRAP. Well I'll see it through and be done w/ the long stuff. I'll stick to half marathons and sprint tris after this!

I have limited internet access as we can't figure out how to get my parent's wifi to work (I think they forgot the password) and the room w/ the computer in it is the room the kids sleep in.... so if I'm slow at getting back to you that's why.. that or I'm out riding my FREAKIN' bike, swimming or running... or a combo.

Oh and before signing off I have to let Tom know (b/c he will be SO excited) that the kids got their first pair of crocs today!