Running, Marathons, and Other Ramblings

I am back! At least for now. I was keeping pretty busy when Brandon got home from deployment and gave up on updating the blog. I am disappointed because it would have been nice to have the first 12 months documented, instead of just the first 7. Such is life right? :)

This morning on my run I had a bit of an epiphany. I was thinking about how far I have come since I began this "journey." I started with the couch to 5k program. I couldn't even run 30 seconds without becoming exhausted. I began to think, okay I am not meant to be a runner. I gave up on the program and never finished it. However, I kept trying to run, just not following a program. I remember the first day I ran two miles without stopping. I was pushing Audrey in the jogger and texted Brandon how excited I was. I had the greatest sense of accomplishment. I stuck with a 1-2 mile run for a long time. I was complacent and thought, okay I am not mean to be a long distance runner. I was totally okay with that. It wasn't until I signed up for the strongman that I finally started running longer distances.

I am lucky that I have found such a fab running partner and she kept telling me about these "walls" I had to push through to go farther. Running is far more mental than physical for me. Finally, I broke down those walls and just kept going. I went from thinking I couldn't be a long distance runner to running a 17 mile obstacle race.

After the strongman I wanted to work on my pace. I had always been concerned about distance and not pace. I never broke that 10/10:30 minute mile and began to think, okay I am not meant to be a fast runner and I am fine with that. However, I persevered and kept pushing. Then, one day I had a 5 mile run where this happened...

Yea, its only a few seconds less than a 10 minute mile but it was big for me. Then this happened...

EEEEK!! and then last weekend Brandon and I participated in a race and we averaged an 8:25 minute mile!

So, today on my run I realized...hey I can do whatever the heck I want. There are no limitations, I can run fast, I can run long distances....hey I can run a marathon! That combined with my running partner committing to a marathon has convinced me.

SO, March 30th, 2014 I will be running my first marathon! Just 4 short weeks after my first half marathon in Paris. Am I crazy for committing to marathon training in the winter? Possibly, but I have no doubts that I can do this!

Moral of the story? Suck it, stick with it, don't give up, you CAN do anything! :))

Pretty much sums it up.

Month 7 and 8

8 MONTHS!


 

7 MONTHS!!

 

I am doing two months in one...cause I slacked last month and didn't post. I've been keeping busy! Its gunna be a long one folks.


7 MONTHS-pillow excitement

8 MONTHS-showing off her new standing skills

 

We left Iowa mid February and headed back to Germany. It was a long process, but we made it safe and sound which is all the matters. My dad flew to BWI with me which I am so incredibly thankful for! He was such a big help. Traveling with an infant is not easy, especially when you are going such a long distance. Plus the little munchkin was sick. The flight to BWI from STL was easy peasy cause I had my dad there. The flight to Germany was long and Audrey had a hard time sleeping. I miss home, but it is nice to be back. I feel like I am back to real life now.

When we got home we kept busy getting settled. I sold all of our furniture and purchased new. The furniture we had was nice and nearly new but it did not work well in our little base apartment. It is much cozier now and I love the way it has turned out! Pics soon :)

Audrey has been keeping busy as well. She is growing so fast, I really cannot believe she is 8 months old. She loves to talk, she is a chatter box. I love hearing the noises she makes. She says DADA all day long. I try and try to get her to say MAMA but she wont do it, stinker. She is all over our little apartment and getting into everything. She finally gave up the army crawl and actually crawls now. I can't take my eye off of her for a second because the monster will be into something.

She is pulling herself up now which is exciting/scary! She is wobbly and it makes me nervous because we have hard floors. She has had quite a few head bonks and I foresee many more. I will go into her room when I think she is napping to find her standing there in her crib smiling :) She is so stinking cute.

She is sleeping in her crib now at night. She goes to bed around 8-830 every night and sleeps until 6ish. I go get her when she starts talking and give her a bottle and then she comes into bed with me and we fall asleep for another hour or so. I usually wake up to her pulling my hair or grabbing my nose. Most nights she sleeps well. She will wake up once or twice fussing for her binky so I go in there and give it to her and she will go right back to sleep. I could do without that, but its nothing I can't handle. When she isn't feeling well that's a whole other story! I was planning to do away with the binky but I haven't bothered with it yet. I am not too concerned about it, plus the girl always has it in her mouth.

Some days I feel like I am going to go crazy without a break and right when I think I am going to lose it, she will look up at me and smile that big gummy smile :) She has her fussy days (which I am SO not good with!) but for the most part she is a really happy, easy baby. She melts my heart and I have never loved like I love her! Its indescribable <3

Audrey LOVES being around people. She sits in the cart at the BX and commissary and smiles at everyone walking by. She likes to squeal and make noise. She is a people watcher :) Which works perfectly because that means she will travel well.

Speaking of traveling, I have big plans for when Brandon gets home. We live 2.5-3 hours away from Paris and we haven't been! We have been slacking. There is so much we want to see and do before we leave so we plan to start traveling a lot more now that Audrey is at a good age. We are looking into a Mediterranean cruise for this time next year. As soon as we find out spring break times for next year, we are booking it. That gives me a year to get into the best shape possible!

It is FINALLY April, which means Brandon will be home this month! He was supposed to be home this weekend, but the military likes to play mean jokes on us and they pushed it back. I was really disappointed, but no sense in pouting over something you cannot change. He will be home soon and that is all that matters. I get butterflies thinking about it. I cannot wait to kiss his cute face again! I am also dying to see his reaction to our lady! She was so tiny when he left!

Deployment really sucks, but there have been some positives that have come out of it. I had the opportunity to go home for 4 months! It was much needed and was awesome being around my family and friends again. It made me feel normal again. I missed them so :) I got a chance to lose weight and get fit and look (kinda) smokin for Brandon's return. We got to put away a substantial amount into our savings account. I have also decided to look at this time apart as a blessing. Absence makes the heart grow fonder right? It's true. 6 months away from your husband is not a normal thing, only for the military. It has made me very grateful for him. He is truly a wonderful husband. I am very lucky. I think this will really make me cherish the time we do have together because for the next 16-ish years we will be spending a lot of time apart. It makes the time together that much sweeter <3 On that note- you ladies that whine and complain about not seeing your boyfriend for a week...BOO-HOO!

I have lost a little over 30 lbs since Brandon left in October. I was hoping for 40 and I was disappointed that I didn't get there, but I have decided to stop focusing so much on the number. I was obsessing over the scale and am only weighing in every 2 weeks now. It is better for my sanity. I am also not paying such close attention to calories. I was driving myself crazy counting every calorie I was eating and felt like I was always hungry. Myfitnesspal says I should only eat 1200 calories a day to reach my goal-bologna. I still look at calorie content, but am more focused on eating healthy, natural foods. I cut out the processed crap (mostly) and already feel better. Have yall heard of pb2 and pb2 with chocolate? It rocks! I order it from Amazon. However, I am only human and still indulge. Last I checked I was down 2 more lbs since not stressing over calories. This was awesome to see because I was stuck for a couple weeks! I am focusing on toning up and doing weight training. I am starting to become a runner which is so exciting because I have NEVER been a runner. Overall, I am just feeling a lot better. I have a ways to go to get where I want to be, but I am feeling good. I got a new hair do and that helps too :) I won't divulge any specific numbers because I am too chicken but....since the day I went in to have Audrey I am down 80 lbs. I am also 20 lbs lighter than my pre-prego weight.

I don't have a ton of "before" pictures because I did a good job of avoiding the camera. But here are a few "before and during" pics. I see the weight loss mostly in my face.

Ewweee-however my lovely friend Allison looks fabulous :)

Brandon and I are planning on taking leave and heading back to Iowa around June-ish. There are some good bands at Steamboat Days this year that I want to see! My sister is having her baby in May too so I am SUPER excited about that! I am afraid it may give me tiny baby fever! We plan to have Audrey's 1 year birthday while we are home, even though it will be early.

Until next time! :)

6 MONTHS

I am a little late posting this because I have been slackin big time! Audrey turned 6 months old on February 3rd. Wow. Half a year old already? Sad face :(

So cute when she pouts! :)

I just love watching her learn new things, it is so exciting. I have to say that this is the best month yet. This is such a fun age! She is learning to crawl and really interact with her surroundings. She hasn't mastered crawling yet, but she can get up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth. In the mean time she gets around by army crawling. I often forget that she is mobile now. The other day she was playing on the floor and I looked down and she had scooted clear across the other side of the room and was playing with an old navy bag. I really love that she can sit up and play with her toys too.

Audrey's 6 month birthday was on superbowl sunday! Woo Niners!

I have said it before, but this girl is such a ham! When she gets really excited she claps her hands and does what I call "baby jumping jacks." If she is laying on the floor she will make motions like she is doing a jumping jack really fast. It is so cute! When she gets  upset she spits, literally. She gets a mouthful of saliva and spits. Its actually pretty comical. Not so much when she is eating food though. This babe is so happy and smiley and giggly, she is just perfect. But, she is pretty attached to me. I can't say that I hate it though :) I will glady accept that she wants to be by me, gotta enjoy it while I can! She is only this size once. Plus, she is not much of a snuggler these days, she is always on the move. She is a busy busy gal.

We are on the home stretch of Brandon's deployment, wahoo! Roughly two months to go. It is hard to believe that it has been over 4 months since I have seen my husband, but it could always be worse so I won't complain. I can't wait to have my family back together. I know Brandon is so excited to play with Audrey! On skype this morning I put the laptop on one end of the room and Audrey on the other and she scooted over to it :) She just sat and smiled at Brandon. I can't wait for him to see how much she has changed.

I haven't lost any weight for about a month, wich is disheartening. I have continued to lose inches though so I need to stop fixating on the number so much. I am running longer and better and really enjoying it, I feel like my body craves exercise. I haven't been too strict with my diet lately because I want to enjoy some home cooking while I am home :) I am confident that I will continue to lose once I get home.

I am leaving Iowa in a few days and it is going to be very hard. I will miss everyone so much, but in a sense I am ready to get back. Real life is calling! Plus, Brandon, Audrey and I will be back in May for some warm weather and that will be exciting!

Audrey is awake from her nap and ready to play!

I have big decorating/painting plans for when I get back so I want to do a post on all of that :) So......... until then yall! ;)

MONTH 5

So smiley! Love her! :)

 Seriously, how could she be 5 months old already? Some days I really miss her being tiny and other days I am so excited for her to get bigger and start talking and walking. But for now I am just really enjoying watching her learn and grow. She is learning something new everyday!

This month was difficult. Audrey was pretty sick for about a week. She had her first ER trip. In the long run, the ER was probably not necessary, but it is always nice to have peace of mind. She had a really bad cough and would get to goin so hard that she couldn't catch her breath. It is a very scary thing. I will NEVER forget that night! The night we went to the ER my mom camped out on the couch with me. Audrey only slept for 10 minutes at a time before she would be up hacking. That same night was the first snow of the season and it was thundering, lightning, raining, and snowing. It made for a memorable evening. I had her propped up on my chest for half of the night and the other half she was propped up under a pillow and her boppy. It was a very long week. Halfway through I started feeling sick and was so grateful to be home where I could have help. Being sick and having a sick baby is no fun.

Audrey was finally feeling better by Christmas, but that was when I was at my worst and ended up in the ER that night . I felt so terrible that I couldn't enjoy her first Christmas, and being with my family for Christmas. It was still great being home for the holidays. I am so excited for Christmas next year since Audrey will be able to open presents :)

Before Audrey got sick she was on a set schedule, napping well, cheery when she was awake, and sleeping through the night with the exception of the occasional binky drop. Ever since, she has been a nightmare to get to sleep! I know that being sick screwed up her schedule, but I never anticipated it would be so difficult to get back on it. I will lay her down for a nap when she starts to get drowsy and she will sleep for maybe 30 minutes, if I am lucky. She used to nap for 2 hours every morning. Nighttime is even worse. She goes down pretty well, but she is up every 45 minutes to an hour. I really have no idea why. I have tried everything. Schedule is key, but she just wont sleep. I don't know what the culprit is, but I need to figure it out soon before I lose it.

I tried to take Audrey's binky away, thinking it was the reason she was waking so often. That lasted roughly 24 hours before I gave it back. I would have stuck it out, but I have every intention of giving it to her for our trip back. I don't really see the sense in getting used to not having it, giving it back, then taking it again. We will save that dreaded time for when we get home I suppose.

If anyone has any tips on getting this child to sleep, SHARE SHARE SHARE. I am desperate here, folks.

Audrey is starting to get very attached to her momma. The other night she was crying when my mom was holding her so I took her. As soon as I picked her up, she smiled and laughed. She is such a goober. She has a lot of personality! When we took her for shots she was smiling and playing, even the nurse pointed out how much personality she has for such a small baby. I think I will have my hands full. She is laughing a lot now, it is the best noise <3 She also can't seem to stay on her back. She is a rolling machine. She has also discovered her feet, she loves to grab and play with them. We are working on sitting up, she isn't too steady yet but she is getting there.

In other news, in 3 days we will be exactly half way done with the stinkin deployment. I can't put into words how anxious I am for Brandon to return. I miss him so much :/

I have lost a little over 20 lbs since I have been home! I am finally starting to see results and feel good about myself. The other night I tried on some of my pre-prego pants that I brought with. Some of them were TOO BIG! What an incredible feeling :) I am aiming to lose 25 more lbs before Brandon gets back. I have no doubt that I can do it :)

My little ham ball!