I Especially Like This

Because last Christmas at the end of Christmas morning we had in our possesion

• A star wars popup book
• Lots of Legos
• Sock Puppet Making Kit
• Several video games
  

Sleep?

No thanks I'll just be tired.

GRRRRRRRRR. Wow what a bad nights sleep last night

Working late and early this week and I am of course only drinking one to two cups of coffee. And even if I was able to drink more coffee this tired is not even breakable with coffee.

I'm so stressed out these days. I tend to get stressed out at times and then every little thing feels like a monolithic mess even if it's something as small as cleaning up a bedroom. Because in my head it's not cleaning up a bedroom. It's perfectly organizing all the crap in every corner of the room and making sure that I don't keep stuff I shouldn't keep or throw away things that I should be keeping. IT DOESN'T MATTER. IT'S JUST SOME CLEANING. THROW SHIT AWAY, KEEP OTHER SHIT. OR THROW IT ALL OUT. IT. DOESN'T. MATTER.

I have been missing working with Jason too these last few days. We worked together for 6 years and it was great. Not all the time. There were times when we were like.....um. GET AWAY FROM ME. But 90% of the time it was the best. He's my best friend and the best coworker I have ever had and sometimes I just miss working with him. Plus with the busy and the evening classes and all the stuff we have been doing, I feel like we haven't seen each other that much these last few weeks.

ANYWAYS. IN SHORT. It's been a stressful few weeks for LeahCMomToBe. But for no real good reason. Lack of sleep is contributor, and I have to try and get better sleep at night. But I don't know what to do when I just keep waking up.

Alright. The build is done and thus I must go see what's on the plate for today.

Running and Weekend Update

Well this is still by definition a running blog. And so perhaps one of us should talk about running instead of baby things.

Jason is running the Rock and Roll 1/2 marathon on Sunday. We both signed up for this race back in April when we were trying to get pregnant but didn't want to not do things or sign up for things just because I *could* be pregnant at the time. This goes for the super cute super skinny jeans that I bought too. Yeah, I got like 3 weeks of wear out of those guys. ANYWAYS. I am obviously not running the 1/2 marathon on Sunday but Jason is.

His training has been....eh...well yeah. eh. He has a pretty loose time goal and we have been busy this summer and he has been enjoying running with me, even though I'm slow and so probably didn't do all of his runs at the paces he should have done them at. He's missed some training runs but has consistently gotten in the important speed workouts and long runs. His 12 mile run on Sunday went really well coming in at about 9:30 min/miles which should translate to about a 2hr 1/2 marathon. Hopefully it's not too hot this weekend and he can go out there at a quick but comfortable pace and enjoy himself. This is the first time that he has raced without me and I'm sad that I won't be running with him.

As far as my running goes, I've been enjoying these lower ligament stretching pains which seem to come out more when I'm running. They annoy me to no end. And I miss running far and easy so much. I now walk quickly to the lakefront path. I think it helps to get my heart rate up and moving before I start running, then I just run a mile out and a mile back. I think I could go three on the path but it was really warm on Sunday morning and I get worried that something could go wrong and I would be out there without any support. Jason will be able to run with me more starting next week when he doesn't have training runs to do and so that should help a bit.

I was super busy last week and so I didn't run at all during the week, and so just ran on Sunday. Hoping to do better this week. We are walking home from work today, tomorrow we have dinner out, Wednesday I have a knitting class....SO maybe I'll do Thursday and Saturday. Then I have to get ready to cheer and chase Jason around the course on Sunday.

Had a great weekend. Got to see friends on Friday, stayed up till 2:30am (!!!!!!) but I still got up at 6:30 in the morning. After breakfast we went and checked out the Newberry Library Book fair, stumbled home because guess what.....I can't get 4 hours of sleep anymore! My cousin came by and picked up some stuff, and then when they left I tipped over on the couch and slept for 3-4 hours. Jason and I realized we hadn't seen each other for most of the week and so decided to stay home and be lazy for the rest of Saturday night. I got a ton of knitting done on a fair isle stocking I'm making (fair isle knitting is really fun and tons easier than I thought it would be). Pictures of the finished product to be featured.

Sunday we went to Indiana to visit with my mom who is in town for the week and her husband's family. His son lives on a farm near Fowler, IN and wow, is it funny when the city mice visit the country mice. They have a ton of animals and I am hoping that next summer when I'm not pregnant they could teach Jason and I how to ride horses.

And thus it is Monday. Happy start of the week.

First Half of the Last Half

You know...that part. You've crossed the half marathon point and you are all, "Whoah I'm halfway done!" Then you run another block and you go, "Holy hell, I'm only 1/2 way done." Then you put your head down for the next 6 miles or so and look out for that 20 mile marker where you can feel like there could be a possibility of an end in sight.

I hate that part of the race.

I got better at racing it as the years went on, but I never enjoyed that part. Especially in the Chicago marathon as miles 13-17 are not the most exciting parts of the race.

So I just finished week 22 of this pregnancy, so I'm finding it very similar to that point in a marathon. Wow, it looks like she'll never get here! I know I know we have a ton to do and the time will fly and blah blah blah. But that doesn't make it seem any less endless right now.

My friend Corey once told me that when she was pregnant she just missed wearing jeans and drinking coffee. I totally feel that. I have two maternity skirts and a couple of pair of shorts. AND I'M SO SICK OF THEM. I want to wear regular jeans. I know it's stupid. But I love jeans. I love MY jeans. With buttons, not elastic. And coffee ooooh the pots of coffee how I miss them. With all the extra work I've been doing and classes I've been taking I could use more than one cup of coffee....and I might have mentioned it here before, but they say that excess caffiene lowers head circumference and birth weight. Now looking at what I need to do in the 18 weeks or so, those seems like two good things. Especially with the head size that runs in my family. Perhaps Lucy will have her father's perfect normal size head.

So yeah, for me being in the first half of the last half is a little annoying, but then last night I had my hand on my stomach and Lucy gave me a nice big kick. Which was nice.

Hey Little Lucy

How's it hanging in mom's uterus? Good? Comfy? I know you don't like sour filled twizzlers or when I sleep on my back so I'm trying my best to stop the sleeping on the back thing. Wow do you know how to cause some pain little girl. I know it's not you...but rather you sitting on all my vital organs. Don't worry I still like you a whole lot.

So I'm guessing you are wondering why we are naming you Lucy. Well actually your full name will be Lucille Jean, and those two names come from my grandmothers. Now you are going to say,"But Mooooooom that name hit it's peak of popularity in 1910, don't you know it's a century later." To which I'll respond, well the Cubs haven't won the World Series is *over* a century, so consider yourself lucky. Also the name Lucy is making a comeback as it's currently listed at number 112 in popularity, so you'll have that going for you. Plus you get lots of cute nicknames : Lu, Luce, Lucy, Lulu, and of course when you're bad the full on Lucille will come out. But you are never going to be bad so we won't have to worry about that. Right now your Dad and I are enjoying calling you Little Lucy.

I am enjoying being with you very much these days. They say that the 2nd trimester is the best part of the pregnancy and I have to agree with these people. I have a ton of energy and doing all kinds of things. I'm working late hours at the office, taking knitting classes, meeting friends for movies in the park and all kinds of other exciting things that fill most hours of the day. I like when you let me know you are in there, it's such a strange feeling but I really enjoy it.

This weekend your Baba will be home and she will for sure be talking to my belly (well she'll be talking to you *through* my belly...which at this point I say is still just at my belly and kind of weird). Then in two weeks your grandpa and grandma Sue will be coming home to stay with us for awhile. They will be with us for about a month and then they'll just be living about a 1/2 mile away. You'll be seeing a lot of them in the upcoming year.

Alright, well my 30 minute build at work has finished and so I need to figure out if my changes are the things that were breaking things last night.....probably but I don't see why they would. Alright, kiddo enjoy the rest of the day!

It's an X, so a gal is next

Hey Lucy* -

Your mother just called me over to the fridge to look at your first baby picture. Do you remember? You were 8 weeks old and not quite two centimeters tall (long? wide?) and now you're so big you make your mother's ligaments stretch and force her to make the occasional old lady noise.

Wait, what's that? Oh, right, the name. Yeah, you're a girl! We just found out today! I guess I just assumed you knew, but I suppose it's dark in there and you're probably not coordinated enough to feel around. Plus, sex ed isn't until 6th grade, so you wouldn't even know what a boy part or a girl part is. Well, you have the girl parts and so you're a girl. YAY!

Now that we know what you are (and as it slowly sinks in), it's getting really exciting. I like to think about all the things you're going to do while you grow up. You can put on routines with your cousins at family gatherings (3 hours of preparation, 30 minutes of arguing, 14 seconds of routine). You can dance around the apartment to whatever crap pop music 11 year olds listen to 11 years from now (although if we have our way, you'll just listen to the oldies like your loser parents). And, of course, you can go to Cubs games. Just like your mom when she was a little girl.

It's going to be a blast.

One interesting little fact is that, if our 3D ultrasound is to be trusted, you look exactly like your mother. I'm not sure about the eyes, but everything that below is exactly your mother. You have her nose, mouth, and chin...but hopefully not her teeth. You know, you could do a lot worse. As it just so happens, your mother is quite the looker, so you're already off to a good start already.

Oh, and the Cubs won on your Gender Day, so you've got that going for you. Which is nice.

Pictures of you:


(* we're 99% sure you're a Lucy, but reserve the right to name you Mabel or Mirabelle should you look like one of those name)

Today is the Day

Well, littlest one...in about 2 hours we'll know if you are a boy or a girl and if you are a healthy one of those. Last night you suddenly got a lot more real, because I said to your dad, wow tomorrow we'll have a son or a daughter.....which sounds like it takes a lot more responsibility than I'm pregnant with an 'it'. I don't know why, but it had me freaked out a little bit.

Our appointment is at 8am, and I know you don't love to be awake in the morning, so if you can make sure that your important parts are facing the right way so that we can see what you are that would be great. Also if you could give you mom a little dance that also would be appreciated. While I don't think you are a weeble wobble anymore...I would still like to see those arms and legs moving. Yes...you read that right, when I wasn't feeling you move I thought you were a weeble wobble, that might be mean, but your dad responded to that bit of crazy with well that's not going to be fun to play catch with. You'll see. He's really funny.

Alright, well I am off to give you some honey nut cheerios, and start drinking some water as apparently they need a full bladder for this deal. Can't wait to see you!

2 Weeks later...

means that I'm at the 20 week mark. oooooh baby! 1/2 way there. I'm feeling the best I have felt yet in this pregnancy and finally starting to enjoy it a bit. The baby is wiggling around in there and so that's been fun. Jason can even feel it if he touches my stomach. He'll say, wait was that it, and I'll say...yeah I think so, I felt something too.

Running has been good....or maybe "good" is the right word. I went running on Tuesday for 4 miles and had some pain and annoyances during the last mile so I had to run and walk. Today I went three and felt a lot better so I might shortening my runs down a bit. Jason's runs have been fine. He hasn't been on top of the training as maybe he should be, but he's getting enough runs in. He had 10 miles today and I guess it went pretty good.

Work has been busy for both of us which makes the weeks go pretty fast.

Today Jason is 30 (! 30!!! people really live that long) and he's currently playing Fallout 3 on the new Playstation 3 that his awesome wife organized to get for him. Yay for fun kid presents when you are an adult...and an old adult too!

My Dad and stepmom come home in 26 days (that's almost here!) and I can't wait for them to get here. My Dad is planning on running the Chicago marathon in 2010 and he's already really jazzed up about it. He's been running down in the islands and hasn't had any muscle stiffness...how about that for a 59 year old man. Oh yeah....his birthday is today too! It's been fun reading about his runs. He's up to about 30 minutes now, and when he started about 2 months ago, I think he could run for a few minutes. Like I always say...just move that stick slowly and you'll get there faster than you think. Look out for a joint father daughter running blog in the near future.

Thursday is our 20 week ultrasound and so we'll get to know a) that everything is ok with the little one and b) find out the gender!!! I am so so so excited about this appointment. We weren't going to find out what was in there and then realized that 40 weeks is a long long time and so finding out was a nice thing to look forward to. Plus with all the knitting that I've been doing lately I want to knit some gender specific clothing.

So that's all from JasonLeahRun land.

Well...that was Busy!

With a capital 'B'.

This weekend was chock full of all kinds of crazy things. On Friday I went to loopy yarns for their Friday night knit along. My cousin is having a baby *any* day now and the baby blanket I'm making for them has to be done by the time I head down to their area for the holiday weekend. So I got a ton done on that on Friday and actually just finished it up last night. Just have to bind off, weave in that last end and it'll be done. And by it being done it means my biggest project to date will be done.

Saturday morning we woke up at 5am because I wanted to go downtown to take some pictures in the early morning light. The photoblog is in the process of being revived, although with the holiday weekend I'll probably miss some more days this weekend. This weekend postings, if you missed them, were these two:

Modern Wing

Tiny & Swiss

Ok, so before we went downtown we were sitting in our living room contemplating actually going downtown at 5am when someone started tring to get into our apartment. We were like...um...hello? A girl was like, yeah I need to go to the bathroom. I was like...well OK, but we can't really help you with that. She said she was looking for the bacherlette party, and I told her that our apartment wasn't it. She started to go upstairs were I knew there wasn't going to be that kind of party either. I asked her if she was in the right building she said she was and went back downstairs. Turns out she was just confused as our downstairs neighbor came and apologized last night. Kinda funny though.

OK, so then downtown. Pictures and breakfast at Yolk and then I was suddenly inspired to finally rearrange our living room with some ideas I had awhile back. So it was back home and, since we got up at 5am, it was only like 8:30am. So we moved all the furniture around and took things off shelves and found a *great great* arrangement for everything. Giving us more space even though we added a desk unit to the room. We did, however, have to run out and get some things from Home Depot and Best Buy, so back to the red line, south a few stops. Walk all over there. Then back home. Then finishing putting things away, and then whew it was all done at about 3pm. At which point the Cubs were on, so I layed down to watch them and was out instantly for like 2 hours. Wow! Saturday night we watched a movie and just relaxed in what seemed like a new apartment.

On Sunday we got up early again. Jason had a 9 mile long run and I had my usual 4 miles. I don't know if it was all the walking/working/moving on Saturday but my run did not go well. I kept looking at all these couples running together and all these girls that were really thin and fit, and since my run wasn't going so well I just felt like a big fat whale out there. I know I know, I'm pregnant and this time is so "magical" but I wasn't feeling the magic. I miss running with Jason and I miss running fast and I miss being able to fit into my clothes. Maybe if the baby was moving more or something I would all, "ooooh being pregnant is magical". It IS moving I think.....but I want it to move like all the time and that doesn't happen. Plus I move so damn much and walk so much it probably isn't getting a chance to move or at least let me know it's moving. I did feel a lot of something when I was reading a Lee Child book last night...maybe the baby just likes Jack Reacher...just like the rest of it's family.

Anyways. I was done before Jason and he came over and was like, "OOOOH YOU LOOK SO CUTE" He thinks it's funny because when I face him when he's running towards me I don't look pregnant at all, and then I'll turn to the side and he says my stomach is like a door opening. He came up to me and was like, how'd it go? And then I started crying. Just a little crying though and then he gave me a hug and we walked back home.

Sunday was the Gay Pride parade and we went to our usual place to watch it. It's a bar that we used to hang out at *a lot* when we were 21-22 years old. Everyone that went there then comes back for the parade so it's always a fun day with a lot of, "HEY, so how was your last year?". We watched the Parade but holy hell is it long. Doesn't seem so long when you're a few vodka lemonades into the day. We saw all of our favorite floats, but missed the school that was marching this year for the first time. I was surprised that they weren't towards the front of the parade. From the parade we walked to the lake to sit for a few minutes. Then, realizing how hot and exhausted we were, decided to walk back home - first going another 1/2 mile or so North to hit a grocery store. So we got some foods and then walked back through all the crowds. We got home at about 4pm. I layed down on the couch...and what do you know. Fell asleep for about an hour.

So whew. I'm kind of exhausted just writing that post. Time for me to get ready for work, and Jason to proof read this (ed note: done). Then work time! Short week this week because of the holiday and the 4 days (!!!!) at my Aunt's lake house! I can't wait!

Betting on the ponies

Hey, it seems that I get to celebrate a new holiday now. Yay! That holiday, of course, is Father's day. And so, on Father's day Leah, our little in utero baby and I went out to Arlington to lay a few bets down and win the baby a college fund! And to be clear, that would be Arlington Park, not Arlington National Cemetary. I'm pretty sure gambling is illegal at the cemetary ("alright, I've got five dollars on Patton to rise from the grave in 2012").

I'd never been to the race trace before, but it was awesome! It's a lot different than I expected. It was a really pretty park with lots of areas to walk around and lots of greenery/flowers. It definitely had the feel of something out of an older time. Or more southern time. Or something. But we were there to play the ponies, not tree-gaze, and play then we did. And we were serious about it. For all our races, we studies the program up and down, compared it with the paper, and made our picks. We had theories. Theories based on facts and science. We were betting animals.

And we won! In a sense. I mean, we basically won. That is, by the end of the night, I had winnings in my pocket. 16 big dollars and 20 cents were ours to keep after 8 races. Woo Hoo! And yes, we had to bet 80 dollars to win 16, but that's still a return on investment. It's not technically a positive return on investment, but I think it still counts.

Oh, and all those 16 dollars go towards the baby. Congrats, baby, you're in the money.

I just hope you're okay with a state school.

Oh, and I also ran yesterday in what I would call an oppressive heat. It was 90 degrees out when I got home from work and I had 8 x 400 speedwork to get in. Guh. But I did it, although somewhat slower than a couple weeks ago. I may not be getting in all my extra miles, but I'm getting in the speed work and long runs and I think that'll get me through the race in August.

Heartbeat! Running! No Moving :(

So yes as you saw in our last post we amazingly got to hear the heart beating. It was so great to hear it right away and not have a problem finding it. Makes me calm down *a little*. Not a lot mind you, but just a little. I am really looking forward to the 20 week ultrasound where we can make sure that everything in on track development wise as well as find out the gender. I care more about the first part of that, and the gender will just be a nice little bonus.

I haven't felt the baby move yet. I know I know, it's early and why would I assume that something is wrong when everything else looks good. It's not that I think that something is wrong, I would just like to be assured that everything is fine. Plus it might be moving at night and I am a really really hard sleeper and so I might not wake up when the thing is most active. But where are the damn "bubbles" I'm supposed to have. GRR.

Even if the baby is lacking on the active, I've continued to be active however. I ran 4 miles 3 times last week and ran about 42 minutes on Saturday which is the best it has gone for me since the pregnancy started. I wonder if it's like training. I'm mean I'm not "training" but I'm running about the same distance and so I would think that the training and the weight gain will offset each other for awhile and so I'll be able to keep on running well and feel more comfortable as time goes on. Eventually of course this will not be the case and my mileage will probably be cutting back/I'm going to slow down a bit. But until I feel really bad I'm going to keep on keepin' on with the 3-4 miles, 3-4 days a week.

Jason's training is going pretty well. Since it's not a race he particularly cares about he's not as strict about runs as he would be if the race mattered (needed it to qualify, working for a PR). That way he can drop some of his run and run with me if he wants to. I like when he runs with me, especially with the weather getting warmer I feel better having him next to me. Plus it's more fun.

It looks like summer has finally come to Chicago with degrees in the 80s for the next 10 days. I love summer in this city and so I welcome it and the heat with open arms.

Two senses down, three to go

...although touch, smell, and taste will have to wait for another five months or so. And I'm not so much looking forward to smell. Guh.

Oh, yeah, I'm talking about you, baby. We heard your heart beat today! 160 amazing beats per minute! It went whoo whoo whoo (not to be confused with a train, which goes choo choo choo). But before I get too carried away, let me back up a bit.

Today we had our 16 week appointment where, once again, we were going to try to hear your heartbeat. Last time, as you may remember, you were not terribly cooperative. I don't know if you were hiding behind a bowel or something, but we couldn't get any reading at all. And your mother...didn't take it well. Given this, we were naturally somewhat nervous going into this appointment and I was a bit concerned that your mother might be facing another slight freakout (really, a teeny tiny freakout. hardly worth talking about). But this time the doctor lubed up your mommy's belly and threw down the little wand thingy and...

WHOO WHOO WHOO

"A little front and center diva," remarked the doctor. Yep, you were happy to comply this time. Probably because you didn't want to make your mother worry this time.

(thanks)

In other news, this doctor - the third in the practice we've seen so far - was fantastic! She was so nice and you mother just clicked with her. Combining the great doctor with the great heart noises and we just had a great doctor's appointment. Good stuff.

In four more months we're going to find out if you're a boy or a girl, but I think you already know. If not, just take a look down. If it's an innie, you're a girl. Outie and you're a boy. And don't get fooled by the umbilical cord. That's a common mistake. Okay, now, if you're a boy, blink once.

Did you blink? Wait, try it again.

Wait. This isn't working.

Damn. I guess we're just going to have to wait four more weeks.

(and sorry for saying damn. Daddy said a bad word)

Happy developing!

-Dad

Maternity Running Clothes!

My stepmom sent me some running clothes for preggo ladies and for the first time since this pregnancy started I thought I looked cute when I looked in the mirror. I love love loved the clothes and I'm excited to have more specific running clothes to accommodate my growing belly. The official belly picture (which has really changed in the last week...although it might be the pose + the different shorts) with the usual outfit can be found at smugmug, but I wanted to show off the running clothes here.

Also. I wanted to show off me being crazy because fun is fun and wacky is wacky and I'm both. I think the kid will like it's mother :)

Baby's First Art Fair

This morning I opted out of running to try to get over this cold that is plaguing my system. In super exciting news (ok, it's not exciting at all unless you're me....or your pregnant and understand the waking up in the middle of the night), I slept through the night...FOR TWO STRAIGHT NIGHTS! I think I needed to get some good sleep so that my body could fight the cold and it seems to be working. So I didn't run and instead reshut my eyes on the couch while Jason ran.

After he got home we both got ready to go and walked out to the Wells street art fair. We were talking about how next summer we would have a baby with us (that's you in my tummy right now!) and how much fun that would be. We stopped at Fleet Feet on the way and pushed around the baby joggers that they have. Wow are those pricey.....but I know the little nugget would enjoy the ride in it. I mean the thing had shocks on the wheels. I think that's something that you don't want to skimp on either. Especially since we'll be using it A LOT next summer. I think that's the only thing I have really thought about getting for the baby....I mean diapers and stuff sure....but running jogger = #1.

So to the baby...

We are right now sitting on our back porch and your Daddy is blowing on the charcoal to try and get it to relight. You'll think it's normal to use a bottle of lighter fluid when you grill and I'm here to tell you that when there is a fire 5 feet tall coming out of a grill that is only like 1 foot in diamter that's not right. We gotta find those damn matchlight charcoals.....

The people upstairs from us are a really great older couple who have a puppy named Murphy. The man is from Brazil and they are always outside enjoying the city. Right now they are playing some really good music and asked if it was bothering us. I said no way we think it's great! I hope we become like that when we grow up. Yes your mother is almost 30 and still wonders what's she'll be like "when she grows up".

We were talking about you today and how excited we are for your arrival and how much fun you are going to have growing up in this city. Sometimes it'll get to you, I'm not going to lie. But we are going to make sure we take lots of camping trips so that you know there is a big world outside of this big city.

You are 16 weeks along today. which means that we'll all get to meet you in a short 24 weeks. Wel that doesn't sound short at all...but it's now less than a half a year so it's an improvement. We go see the doctor on Wednesday and your mom is hoping that she's a big calmer this time around...or at least is planning on talking to the doctor about dealing with my nerves when I'm there.

So I hope you enjoyed your long walk today. I probably over did it...I mean it was 8-10 miles..but until you complain louder, I'm going to say it was ok.

Alright, enjoy your development in week 17. If you feel like giving me a big ole' kick go for it! I can't wait to feel you moving around in there!

Grr. I love sharing but

...did you have to share your cold?

While Leah's cold rages on into week two, it seems that I've managed to pick it up as well. Thanks, babe! On the plus side, I'm not pregnant (we think), so it's not such a big deal. Just annoying. And unlike Leah's new pregnant-lady immune system, mine will hopefully actually do something.

(*fingers crossed*)

So, since I last wrote, my training went a bit wonky. I still got my speed-work in and most of my runs, but I did miss my long run and a couple of mid-week runs. Boo. I hate missing long runs. But, there will be others (eight miles next week) and, as I said, at least I got in my speed work. Last night was 7 x 400 and it went just fine. Wait, hold on...

Sorry, had to cough up some phlegm. I'm good now.

Anyway, that's about it as far as my running goes. Leah's been running as much as her cold has allowed, cranking out another three last night. And let me just tell you how impressed I am with her dedication to keeping it slow. We all know Leah's need for speed, so she's making a real sacrifice with the whole slow and steady thing. Yay, Leah! Way to be responsible!

I can't wait until the baby's out and we can stop acting like responsible adults.

Baby's current status: Hiding behind a uterine wall.

Sweat it Out...Really?

I must be an athlete from the 80s because after having a horrible day at work feeling like crud, and ending up really cranky I decided to go running when we got home thinking I could maybe sweat the sick out. And actually....I feel a ton better. I don't know if it was just a week of laying around feeling crappy and staying indoors was making it worse, but I think that the sweat it out might actually do something.

So Jason and I ran together for the first 2 miles and then he went ahead of me and did another 2 miles at faster than a snails pace and I kept nice and slow for my last mile or so. I went a bit over three miles though, probably around 3.5 or so. We won't run tonight because we are getting our hair cut. But we'll be back on it tomorrow. I'll probably do an *exciting* three or so miles and Jason has a 7 x 400m speed workout going on.

So I'm 15 weeks + some number of days pregnant and I have been doing the belly photos after our runs on Sunday. I only started doing it at 13 weeks because really there wasn't anything to show before then. So you can check out my smugmug gallery to see the pictures so far. And I'll make sure to post them here in the future.

Still Pregnant..But

SICK!

What the hell. I have now been sick with some kind of head cold or something for a week. I never get sick and when I do I get better in about a day or two, and now I'm STILL sick. I don't find it frustrating at all. Grr.

I guess I can't heal as fast as I usually do when I'm sick when I'm pregnant? I don't know but it's utterly and totally irritating. Jason started feeling sick this weekend as well but he was already feeling better this morning.

Even with being sick all weekend we still fit in a lot of stuff. On Saturday we went to The Melrose for big breakfast and then walked to Oz park to check out the chalk festival which was pretty cool. I think a lot of people opted to not show up because of the forecasted rain, but it was still amazing to see what artists can do with sidewalk chalk. I can draw like a rainbow and a hopscotch board and that's about it so I'm always amazed by artists. Later Saturday my good friends popped by with their two little kids to say hi. It's always fun to see those kids and when they come over I am always reminded about how un-babyproof our apartment is...good thing there is a lot of time to get that together.

Sunday my aunt came over and we went to the Printer's Row book fair where Jason and I bought about 5 books..usually we don't find anything because there is just too much stuff but lucked out and got some books we've been looking for at used prices. After the book fair we headed back to our apartment and watched Wall-E on blue ray and had some bbq dinner. although our charcoal was totally ruined (how does rain get into a plastic tupperware thing) and so we had to cook the meat on the stove...ah well it was still all delicious.

No running for me since I've been feeling like poop and looking forward to feeling better so I can get running again! well that and so I can stop feeling like poop. Did I mention I hate being sick.

Full Weekend

Well kids, it looks like LeahC is back (well....almost I guess) to her pre-pregnancy fighting self. As I'm sure we all remember before the ever expanding tummy came to be I would be busy and have a million things planned on our weekends and we would go for epic long walks just to have stuff to do. Then the first trimester came and everyone asked, "Where did LeahC go?", as I would be asleep on the couch for most of the weekends, and forget doing anything after work.

Last week I finally finally started feeling better. It's like when you are sick and you think you'll never get better and then when you do it's like...oh wow, the cloud lifted and I'm all better now. Very similar feeling to entering the 2nd trimester...at least for me. And while I still don't feel like myself, it's a ton ton better.

This weekend was full of good stuff. On Saturday morning I got a facial at a spa in Wicker Park and from that Jason and I walked downtown where I had a knitting class at 1pm. It's such a good walk and one of the things we miss the most about living over on the west side was how easy it was to walk downtown. On the way we stopped at the Blommer Chocolate factory and picked up some treats and holy hell does that place make a good chocolate. Jason and I both highly recommend the dark chocolate covered pretzels.

After knitting (where I finished a sock! yay me!), we took the train back home and got ready for dinner and then took the bus back to the bucktown area where we met some friends for dinner at Club Lucky. Fun kids to hang out with and hoping to hang out with them more in the future. We got home at like 11pm (I know! It's like I'm up with the big kids!) and Jason had a few martini's with dinner and wasn't feeling the get up at 6:30 to race a race that doesn't really matter. So we scratched the race from our Sunday dance card and started watching Terminator 2 (we are on a Terminator kick in preparation for seeing the newst movie).

We still got up early on Sunday...ok ok, I got up early on Sunday and the proceeded to jump on the bed until Jason got up. We went for breakfast at Ann Sathers (always delicious) and then headed home and decided to read on our back porch. As soon as I sat down in our papazon chair on the porch with the sun hitting me, my eyelids suddenly weighed a few tons and I was out for the count. So we each took some naps. After which Jason decided that since he already blew the race he might as well blow it totally and decided to run with me for my slow 4 miles. Feeling better in general makes for feeling better as I run as well. I wonder how long I'll be able to run in this pregnancy. I hope for the whole thing as I just feel so so much better when I'm running.

After the run we went for a walk to Lincoln park to enjoy the weather and then we were sufficiently all walked out. We had a relaxing evening at home, watched the Cubs get pummled by the Dodgers, tried to not throw things at the the TV in annoyance at the ESPN announces. We know, we know, they are the best team in baseball, they score the most runs in the national league....BUT really....Mr. Morgan? You think that Juan Pierre is a better player than Manny Ramirez and would rather have him in the line up. They kept talking about his first at bat...how about the second where he struck out in 3 pitches (that's the Juan Pierre I remember from the Cubs). Seriously it was just a Dodger love fest for 3 hours....well I'm assuming they continued the same behavior because we gave up on them and watched some recorded DVR instead.

It's rainy and crappy Monday today and I'm happy that the crap weather held out until Monday and let us have a nice weekend to play in.

Wednesday Speedwork

Yesterday Coach Leah and I slowly made our way out to the lakefront, cruising at a nice warmup pace. Once we arrived at the lakefront, we...

Hey, where's Coach Leah going? LEAH! Oh yeah, she's heading home to finish out her run and get dinner started (dinner which she's going to eat! How exciting is it that Leah has her energy and appetite back? Very) and I'm being left out here by myself to do my sprints. I was like a man abandoned on a desert island, but instead of a volleyball, my best friend was a women's Timex watch (forgot the garmin, had to borrow Leah's watch. Looks good on me, though).

So I did my sprints. 6x400 at about 5k pace. I tried to speed it up a bit from last time, which was my first outing, and I think I was successful. My times were still about the same (~2 minutes), but the course was a bit longer this time which is what extended the time to 2 minutes (well, I'm saying it was anyway. If not, something is seriously wrong with my pace recognition because I know I was going faster). The only down side of the sprints was they were BORING. Yeesh. Run out real fast...trot back...run out again...rinse, repeat. Blah. Way more fun running them with Leah. Oh well.

But the long runs are still fun by myself. I did 6 miles on Sunday and it was nice. For some reason, time still flies on long runs and I don't find myself getting bored. Speed work's just a whole different ballgame (maybe it's soccer. That would explain the boredom).

Coach Leah signed me up for a 5k this weekend, my first ever (woo! PR!). That should give me a better idea of what pace I should really be shooting for in the half and I can base some of my run times off of that.

Any baby news on the horizon? Not too much, really, other than the fact that Leah is feeling sooooooooo much better. See ya, first trimester. Don't let the metaphorical door hit you in the metaphorical ass on the way out (metaphorically speaking). The little fella (that's gender neutral, right?) was about the size of a medium shrimp on sunday and, if my calculations are correct, will be heading off to college pretty soon.

Okay, that's all from here. Time to get back to debating whether or not to find out the sex during the 20 week ultrasound.

Go Cubs.

What's That? Hunger? A Taste for Something?

I was so excited last night because the first time in a long time I was excited for dinner.

We went for a run last night and Jason did a "recovery" or run slower than slow with me to keep me company and I went an extra 1/2 mile because that's what his plan called for. So we did 3.5 miles in a long amount of time. We ended our run near a grocery store and got some food for dinner and somehow made it home before it started raining super super bad.

We got home and we made one of those caesar salads that come in the bags with all the parts that you need. I added some grape tomatoes and went at it. And holy hell did it taste good. I mean I don't know the last time that I was able to eat dinner AND be excited about it. It's been more force feeding myself to try and get some protein into my system before bedtime. Jason then made tostadas which were also delicious and I was really proud of myself when I ate the whole tostada (and almost cleaned my plate...couldn't quite finish the rice). BUT the point is that I ate dinner and it's a big deal and I realize that this post is all about the fact that a 29 year old woman ate dinner, but it's more that she was also excited and hungry to eat dinner. And since it's my blog I can talk about whatever I want to talk about. :)

Work is going good, and got to learn some new stuff yesterday on sending html e-mails and hope to finish off that project today. Running tonight includes just 2 miles for me and Jason is doing a 6x400m speedwork out so he'll do that and I'll do some regular running and then we'll see how spaghetti sits with me as it's on the menu for tonight!