Ch ch ch changes

It's been a long while since I last posted. And boy, howdy! there's plenty to report. So, I will do an injustice to all the excitement in my life by summing things up here.

We had Gabriel's baptism last Sunday. It was FABULOUS. Our rector is retiring from our parish as of July 1st so we feel very lucky he was able to squeeze us in. (I, in fact, scheduled the dunking of #3 before he was even born... which I thought of as bad luck for sure... but it looks like everything worked out!) Randy has been leading our church since just after the Resurrection (or maybe 1978?) so this is a HUGE change (#1) for the congregation. He also happens to be (along with Bishop Robinson) THEEE reason I found myself back in the pews after so many years away. My father-in-law, a non-church goer himself, says if he lived here he'd go to church, too, because he admires Randy so much. THAT'S sayin' something!

Gabe likes Randy so much he'd like to nurse!

We had a pretty big crowd: Scott's parents (who were meeting Gabe for the first time), my parents (my Dad meeting Gabe for the first time) and my sister, Heather, and her family (all of whom were meeting Gabe for the first time). So, obviously, this was a "big reveal" for the little dude. He was SOOOO happy to have so many eager, loving arms to hold him. His days were exceptionally peaceful, as were mine, since I basically just had to feed him when he got hungry. He's definitely a snuggle bug and happiest when his in the arms of an adore-er.

Hail, hail the gang's all... (well, not even CLOSE to all... but a nice subsection of the gang's) here!

My sister brought her 3 youngest kids (her eldest is in college) and I get a little choked up just thinking about how amazingly the kids get along together. We lucked out weather-wise so the 5 of them (Gabe was not game... spoil sport!) spent allll day outside creating Zombie-Proof forts and playing hide 'n seek and swinging and generally have a fantastic time together. I think it helps that I have boys and she has girls (twins Annie & Sophie, age 9, & Tessa, age 8) as I think this removes some of the one ups manship that might occur if they were the same gender. Although.... maybe it doesn't matter. All I know is that they adore each other and it gives me no end of pleasure to see them romp around.

Cousin fun at the playground.

Cousin fun on a mini-hike. They're all so reserved and shy....

Happy as he was with all the lovin', Gabe still seems to have tummy troubles. So, I have changed (#2) my diet fairly drastically, based on Dr. Sears' recommendations. (Thanks to Bobbi for the web link!) I have eliminated dairy, caffeine, soy, peanuts, chocolate, citrus, wheat, chicken, beef (as a vegetarian, this is obviously not a sacrifice!), eggs, nuts, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, onions, green peppers, and tomatoes.

WOW, right? I had to make a list of foods I COULD eat in order to convince myself that I wasn't going to starve to death. I have been eating Rice Chex, coconut milk and fruit for breakfast. For lunch and dinner I've been eating quinoa, brown rice, sweet potatoes, avocados (with apologies to Barbara Kingsolver and all she taught me in "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle"), peas, sunbutter, chick peas and all manner of fruit. I am sprinkling chia seeds on and in as much of my food as possible in order to get the nutritional benefits it offers.

I think, by the way, that he is feeling a little less gassy: he still HAS plenty of gas but it doesn't involve as much pain and pushing to get it out. I am on day 3.5 of this and need to maintain this strict diet for 2 weeks. Then I can work foods back in and see how he reacts. While I would love to head back in with chocolate first, I think I have to give wheat a chance... living without bread and pasta is tough around here! (You gluten free folks have my sympathies!)

As far as my own feelings, I am surprisingly un-hungry. As in, less hungry than I am when I eat whatever I want. I have sort of an "empty" feeling, though that is almost certainly psychological. And I know my legs don't feel very fresh, even after a rest day. I have lost a pound or two (not that I'm really trying) but I'm kind of surprised I haven't lost more, given how low-cal my diet is now compared to my normal carb/chocolate fest! We'll see how things look in 12 or so more days. I am a little concerned about getting good fueling for my long runs, but thankfully I don't have any scheduled beyond 8 miles for the next two weeks. Trying to crank out double digits with this diet would be very hard for me.

As of now I would, by the way, kill for a hot fudge sundae.... but maybe this break from crappy food will get that monkey off my back. Oh, and at least I can drink wine. One glass with dinner makes me feel like there are still some fun things I can have.

Only in my dreams....

On Tuesday, Megan and her kiddos, Max (age 3) and Sydney (age almost 5 months), visited and bore the gift (well, a loan, anyway!) of a Moby Wrap. Holy schmoley. We are changing (#3) from using the sling, (which was useful and fine but he seemed to slip out of place a bit) to the Moby Wrap and life.is.GOOD! Gabriel totally digs being snuggled up (as noted during baptism weekend) but this Mama has got STUFF to do. The Moby allows me to be hands-free and do (almost) everything I need to do... minus the fussing and crying that would pop up when he was on his own in the bouncy seat or on the play mat. (Lookitme bein' all Attachment Parenting and junk!) Will this indulging his need for contact bite me in the butt later on? I have no idea... but for now, I am enjoying the peaceful baby that rests comfortably with me for long stretches during the day.

MC Phoebe be Baby Wrappin', wickedy, wickedy wack. Yo.

Sydney's totally over her Moby and lovin' her Ergo Ride... Thanks, Syd!

I tried to make my own Moby Wrap by buying material at Joanne's and wrapping it following YouTube instructions. Don't bother. This is a much cheaper option but you will never find the soft, stretchy, SPF material Moby has and you will just wind up cutting it into pieces and dying it to create Ninja costumes for Elliott's 6th birthday party. Well, maybe you won't do THAT exactly, but you get the idea. (It was a great party, by the way! We celebrated a week early because of so many family members in town for the baptism.) I guess you could say Elliott is changing (#4) into a 6-year-old on Saturday.

Of course the 40-ish moms are the ones who most enjoyed the ninja get ups. We got the moves like Bruce Lee.

Finally, tomorrow (or maybe next week... jury is still out if I'll be needed) is my last day as a daycare provider. This is by far the biggest change (#5) in my life - other than the birth of Gabriel - in almost 5 years. I told myself from the start (fall 2008) that I would do daycare until Elliott was in school full time. The birth of #3 makes sticking with it more appealing, but I need to make a change. As a dear Mother Runner friend said (I'll keep her nameless in case she doesn't wish to be quoted here), "It seems like running a daycare makes you hide your light under a bushel." I'm grateful for social media because I definitely wouldn't have felt I was shining ANY light if it weren't for my online nonsense over these 4 long years.... but she did sum it up fairly well there.

Two of my original daycare buddies with T & E. Winter 2009. They were 4 & 2 at the time. How far we've come!

So, while dropping a job that would allow me to stay home with my little baby seems straight-up stupid, the opportunities that I am pursuing would resolve a few challenges my family faces right now... But I won't go into that unless and until I have a position lined up and the ink has dried.
 And certainly there will be posts about the changes we will be facing after that gets resolved!

Tomorrow is the last day of school and kindergarten promotion. Hopefully I'll blog about that before, say, September!!

Hope your changes are going well. And a final shout out to Dede, who's changing into a Warrior Goddess as we speak. Way to go, Dede. You ROCK!

Train Like a Mother

I've been waiting for a long time. It seems like last summer, when the reality of what was happening truly set in, was eons ago. At times I was almost certain the day was never going to arrive. Hundreds of others shared my anticipation and we discussed it endlessly on Facebook and blogs. I wondered if they really knew how excited and anxious I was for the big day. Could ANYONE be as pins & needles about it as I was? And while I had a general sense of when it would happen, experience taught me you can never be sure when a little bundle like this will arrive.

At last, yesterday at about 11:15AM... the moment came! Delivery, though later than I had hoped, was a snap. Weighing in at just over 3 pounds and a lively bright orange, three copies of Train Like a Mother are now healthy and happy and HOME with this giddy Mother Runner.

(Did I fool you at all with my malarkey alluding to birthing a baby? I figured not.... but it sure amused me!)

You may already know that I am a psychotic really big fan of the ladies of Another Mother Runner. I stumbled across the first book written by Sarah Bowen Shea and Dimity McDowell Davis (Run Like a Mother) after it was featured in Runner's World magazine a couple of years ago. I bought it for myself as a Mother's Day present. I discovered their  blog and their Facebook page and I was hooked. Lucky for me, those nice ladies are not only tolerant of, but somewhat amused by, my take on running and motherhood. So, we developed an email friendship. I was lucky enough to make it down to Cape Cod for a reading of the first book that summer where I met and ran and giggled and drank wine with Sarah. Since then we haven't been able to get to the same place at the same time, which is a big fat bummer, but technology has allowed us to remain in touch. (In fact, Sarah will be running the Boston Marathon on April 16th. A PERFECT opportunity for me to hook up with her. Alas, I will be a teeny bit busy with a new born and she will be a teeny bit busy spreading the RLAM and TLAM love. Oh, and running the actual race, of course!) 

Both of their books feature essays they have written about running and parenting (and wife-ing and work-ing and many other -ings). They also have a gajillion anecdotes and thoughts from Other Mother Runners who responded to their surveys. I was more than happy to share my nonsense with them and, indeed, some of nonsense made it in the book! (I haven't sat down to read the whole thing yet, but when I flipped open the book, I literally landed on a quote from... ME! Gotta dig that, huh??)

SBS and Dim... They like me! They really like me!!

Anyway, no arrival of such significance would be complete without photo documentation from a very talented (read: annoyed that he's taking dumb pics of Mom and not playing with his Legos) 5-year-old. 

Still wrapped up... anticipation is at epic heights.

Getting those babies out required a sharp blade and plenty of brute force. I hope my upcoming delivery of Baby TOP is not so violent!

That's the equivalent to 10cm dilated and fully effaced. "One more big push!"

Happy, healthy, Bouncing Baby Books! (One for me, one for Mom of Max & Sydney - Megan, and one to pass around amongst other Mother Runners.)

"Fascinating insight."

"Hilarious!"

Guess who's quoted a couple of times? AND in the acknowledgements? A first for this girl!

I'm so inspired! Totally ready to get training.... Okay. Maybe in a couple of weeks.... Are you scared yet? Dig that stretch mark on my belly?

So.... Get thee to a bookstore or to Amazon.com and buy this book! Get thee to Another Mother Runner and be part of the online party. Get thee to Facebook and "like" Run Like a Mother: The Book.

Also... if you happen to bump into Baby TOP, please tell him to get thee OUT of  my belly. I'm ready. Really really ready!