Running again

Today, Andy started his half-marathon training.  I was bored at work (what's new) browsing the web on the ipad and thought I might like to walk a marathon sometime since I am a fan of walking.  I ended up finding a bunch of marathon/half info and told Andy about it.  On Friday he signed up for the Lake Sammamish one on March 9th.  Once you pay, you get motivated.  The training schedules were actually 10 weeks long which, if he started this week, is EXACTLY the amount of time he has!

He even went out and bought a calendar to write the amount of miles each day he is supposed to run and posted it up in our room.  He will also keep his weight progress on there too.

His plan is to run this one, then probably do another half a little later, which will evolve into a full marathon training (the schedules tend to match up).  His goal is to do the oktoberfest full one in Leavenworth.  I would like to do some sort of race then too, but I don't want to make any solid goals yet since I don't know how my recovery would be.  I would be in pain a few months after having Sawyer after trying to just walk the 3-4 miles at the park, and not sure if my situation this time will be even harder.  Maybe I'll walk the kids in the half that day.

Today he ran the first day on the schedule, 3 miles, and used his new neon yellow shirt (complete with thumb holes) that I got him for Christmas.  So proud!  The running days are Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturdays (the long day) and are very adamant about needing to use the rest days since they give your muscles time to build and repair, also preventing injury and pain to joints.  Maybe he will do a lot better this way since he wasn't taking a lot of rest days before.

Room Progress

We didn't have ANY plans for the weekend for once, so I decided we needed to get the rooms on a roll.  We could actually get stuff done without being tired from work all day.

On Saturday, I pretty much just moved all the clothes into the hallway.  We have WAY too many clothes.  Sawyer's old clothes and baby's new ones, ones too big for him still, and the mass that fits him now.  I still am missing the 9 month ones somewhere too.  Baby's clothes (the ones that can be put on hangers) up through 6-9 months were hung up in Sawyer's current room (future baby's room).

This shows the 3 month clothes...

It is ridiculous what exhausts you when you have a baby sucking out your energy!  We were hungry and Andy's cousin Megan tipped us off that some of the Targets in Utah had just the navy Ergo carriers on clearance.  We decided to take a break and check them out.  We stopped at the Sunrise one and they just had a display, along with some other brands of carriers actually in stock.  Second stop was the mall one, and they didn't even have a display...and only had about 2 total carriers (no Ergo).  We ate in the food court and decided it was Sub Zero time (ice cream).  We had delicious cake batter with brownies and cookie dough this time and it, like the others, was amazing!  I suggested we try the Target there in Federal Way.  Success!  Well, kind of.  They actually had 2 in stock, one gray w/ stars (still full price at $120) and one black "sport" model...on clearance for $80.  I did a quick search (whoever says smartphones aren't necessary is crazy) and found that the sport model is different because the material was lighter, the straps were longer (necessary for Andy), and the hood is detachable.  It doesn't have a zipper pouch though, but meh.  The other features were better for us.  I took it home and tried it out right away- Sawyer loved it!  It holds kids up to 40 lbs, but I don't think we will tote Sawyer in it much, haha. You can carry the babies on the front, back, or hip.

Sawyer had thrown a few fits that day, which was completely unusual in public.  We thought his tummy probably hurt because he wouldn't eat anything (besides pancakes early for breakfast) but every time we turned around he had a chocolate in his mouth.  I don't know where he stashed them because he wasn't getting them out of the family box.  He said his tummy didn't hurt though, it must have just been a crash from the all-day sugar rush.  We made sure he ate some top ramen before bed (it was all he would eat), and I stayed up entirely too late sorting clothes.  From the big pile was sorted out into a pile of clothes I would never use (stains, fit weird, or not our style).

We also made the executive decision to switch the room styles.  I kept looking at the new crib over the past few months, and just felt guilty putting a new infant in there.  There were chips that had been slightly painted over again, but not enough to prevent more chips.  It was dirty from sitting in a garage for ages, and it was pretty old (I think her oldest is like 6 now and crib safety has changed it made me nervous).  Refinishing a crib, according to everyone online, was not worth it, and it is hard to find paint that is OK for a crib.  Plus I wouldn't be able to do it and didn't want to pin a difficult project on Andy because I can't inhale fumes.  The things in question could be bad for an infant, but not a big deal for a toddler.  I decided to put Sawyer in the new white room, and use Sawyer's old crib and furniture (and even decor, saving us $$$) and that will go to baby.  I feel pretty confident that we made the right choice, especially since the changing table dresser is in the color of the old jungle theme.  I thought Sawyer was getting a little old for the jungle animals anyway.

The middle of the night that night was not good.  I heard Sawyer screaming at 4am and poked Andy for what to do.  I didn't want to get him up that early in the morning, but he was not falling back to sleep and it was a long time of crying.  Andy went in there and found a bad surprise.  Sawyer had thrown up noodles EVERYWHERE.  I heard the bathtub start, and then the washing machine.  After a bath and sheet change, Sawyer went back to sleep, and I let Andy sleep in this morning.

I got to work pretty soon.  I sorted the remaining, usable pile, into clothes that fit, ones that are too small, and ones that are too big.  I put the big ones in a laundry basket and put that in Sawyer's new room and decided to worry about that when they fit.  I sorted the fitting ones into like-styles: undies, socks, pants, footie jammies, other jammies, shirts, and sweatshirts/jackets.  I hung up all of his shirts and jackets and put them in his new closet, and the others each got drawers in his new dresser.

While Sawyer was doing this:

I was dealing with more clothes and was jealous, but his tummy was still a little upset all day (hence the pull-up).  Here is the pile of just the "too small" clothes.  I sorted those into a 12 month pile, and an 18 month pile.

Andy and Sawyer came up and built Sawyer's cube shelves (baby's were done already).

I felt pretty accomplished with Sawyer's clothes all put away and the shelves built, but Andy came and built the crib.  The funny thing was he misunderstood me, and built it as the daybed, not the full crib.  So, yeah, we are testing Sawyer in his new bed tonight.  I figured if it went poorly, all he has to do is screw in the front fence tomorrow night.  I put some of his toys and some books in his cube shelves in case he wakes up early.  I hope he doesn't fall out mostly since the new crib doesn't have the safety fence like his old one came with.  His room is pretty plain right now, but I am actually pretty happy with it and feel really accomplished from this weekend!

Trying it out, pretending to sleep

I'm going to paint that old lamp- the other lamp is just too dim to light the whole room

We'll get some artwork up

Since I am terrified of him falling down the stairs in the dark and doing things downstairs (or wandering into our room and creeping me out in the wee hours), we put a couple safety measures in place.

His "too small" clothes, and baby's shelves waiting for room to move

We put the safety gate outside of his room.  Now he can only get into the laundry room and end of the hall bedroom (which has no light in it so he can't see anything to mess around with in there).  We also have a nightlight lit by the stairs in case he gets through the gate somehow in the dark and tries to go down them, at least he can see them a little.

Whew!  For having no plans, it really turned into an exhausting weekend!

New things

We've been thinking about the new things we will need for the new baby.  We won't be having a shower or anything since we have almost everything from a crib and furniture (bought it off a relative before we were even pregnant), to basics (pack n play, diaper genie, toys), and clothes.

We used a small mix of gift cards we had and got for Christmas, and finally knocked out one of them yesterday.  I wanted to get 2x4 cube shelving for the boys rooms at Ikea, but after finding them for half the price at Home Depot and having $90 left on a giftcard, I decided to go with the slightly cheaper looking/quality ones since it is for boys rooms and not the living room.  I got some of the baskets to go inside too.  I guess baby's room will have to be some sort of combo of yellow, light blue, or green.

It was cute in the store, Sawyer told everyone he saw "that's mine" pointing to the brown one, and "that's baby brother's" pointing to the white one.  Now we just need to find the energy to put them together and organize the rooms.  It is getting to the point where standing all day is leaving me so exhausted, and my legs and feet get so sore I just want to lay down when I get home.  Sawyer still needs to switch rooms.  I originally planned to try turning his crib to the daybed when he moved rooms, but I do not want him running into our room in the middle of the night whispering "wake up!  wake up!" or trying his latest antic of moving one of the kitchen chairs into the pantry and standing on it to get the fruit snacks.  He can also now unlock the door just fine and I just picture him running outside while we're sleeping.  They say to keep your kid in the crib as long as they're not crawling out and it becomes dangerous, so I'm definitely going to follow that advice and keep him in there for as long as I can now that he's getting mischievous.  I can just have 2 babies at once :)

We are also trying to figure out the stroller situation.  We go on a lot of walks, where I figured we could push Sawyer and carry the little one, but we also on occasion (and hopefully frequently this summer) jog together. We are trying to figure out if two single joggers are better or buying a double jogger.  We don't really anticipate situations where one of us would jog without the other with the kids and would need a double on our own, but I hate (and it is physically awkward for me) pushing strollers while jogging so Andy usually does it.  It seems like it would suck for him to push a double though.  In the situations where we aren't jogging though (which are super rare), I can't tell if I want to carry the little one forever, or if we would benefit from one of those super-wide double joggers. We are leaning towards getting two singles (well, buying one more) at the moment, plus it would be cheaper.  Maybe we could invest the money spent on a quality carrier like the Ergo.

Christmas '12

Christmas morning I woke up excited like a little kid at 9:30.  Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the actual little kid.  I waited until 10 and finally went in and woke him up.  We couldn't wait around forever since we were hosting Christmas.

We headed downstairs and emptied the stockings.  I had Andy get candy to put in them, and I didn't know what was in there either.  Sawyer was so excited as he pulled out each candy though, saying, "I got chock-it!" or "I got candies!"

Then came his presents.

Showing off the toy he picked out for baby  brother

He reeeeeaaaalllllyyy wanted that firetruck, and he is in love with the Cars. Other noteworthy gifts include mega blocks (our entire bag we had disappeared somehow), mr. potato head, a giant pirate ship, and a Raleys truck from grandma and papa sam.  the only problem is Disney SCREWED every single car into the cardboard.  Andy had to find a screwdriver and unscrew all of them- it took forever!  We got a waffle maker from his mom, I got him a neon shirt and cologne, and he got me sheets, perfume and a bra without wires (they were KILLING me pressing into my tummy).  We cleaned up quick and got ready for our guests.

We had a lot of fun, and all of us ate too much.  Sawyer didn't take a nap the entire day until we put him to bed at like 8:30 (which I think is the first time ever).  We played kinect and watched Pitch Perfect (so funny).

Here he is with some of his cars

Today, Sawyer got another gift, a monster hat that Janelle knitted for him.  Apparently he loved it so much he wouldn't take it off all day!

I am kind of sad Christmas is over, since I love the season and decorations so much.  Next up is just my birthday in February (meh) and then we wait for baby.

Here are a couple videos.  The first is Sawyer trying to sing "Jingle Bells" (which is just "Jingle bells all the way") and him unwrapping his Cars set ("I got....Cars 2!)

Christmas Eve '12

Sawyer ate his last chocolate today, which means it is Christmas Eve.  He has done so well this month reminding us daily to get his "chock-it" and never expecting more than one.  Thanks mom for the calendar, he loved it!

After work (plus some shopping for Andy for tomorrow), we headed over to my parents for the traditional Christmas Eve spaghetti and presents.

Sawyer knew exactly what to do.  He tore them open like a seasoned pro.

He loves his new Cars chair from Destiny and Erik

And of course, more Cars

Tiny Monson even got a gift

Sawyer made these for us, as my mom said "pretty much all by himself". He is quite proud and still keeps telling us "I made these, for you"

I am excited to get our backyard done so we can use this, thanks Erik and Destiny!

More puzzles for him.  He is doing so well with them, he even did some age 4+

Woot, finally a garage opener!  Thanks mom and dad!

More Cars stuff.

Sawyer made out like a bandit and loves his new Cars.  I'm sure he will freak out tomorrow too.  I think starting next year we will do the commonly used "something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read... plus a Santa gift" to ensure we don't go overboard and spoil him.