Eat--Sleep--Be a Merry Mom/Runner

Did someone say eat?

Mom
The girls tracked out this week for their three week break. We aren't traveling anywhere this time so I tried to come up with some cool things for them to do. One of those things was letting them each pick something to make from scratch in the kitchen with minimal help from me. Today was P's day. She uses my iTouch all the time and likes to play cakedoodle where you "bake" and design a cake. She decided she wanted to bake a strawberry cake and use the recipe from cakedoodle. I was hesitant because I thought the recipe was fake and that the cake would be a bust but it did seem to have all the key ingredients. She did everything from using the mixer, cracking the eggs, cutting the strawberries (this was the only part that made me nervous). She iced it after dinner and I have to say it was really good. I always make birthday cakes for the girls and go to town decorating them to suit their fancy but this was the first time I have made a cake from scratch. I make a mean pound cake but I usually use good old Betty Crocker for birthday cakes. I guess I still haven't made one since P did all the work. It was fun, and she was so proud of herself.

Runner
The eating piece of running is hard to figure out. Since I am pretty thin to start with, I have to be careful about getting the right calories for energy sake and to maintain weight. Today I ran 5 after lunch, so I could beat the rain I thought was coming. I decided to eat my usual peanut butter english  muffin that I have before a morning run since I needed to eat and head out the door pretty quickly. In the morning it doesn't bother me, but today it felt blah in my belly the whole run. I did it, but it is so weird how a successful run is a big balancing game between eating, time, hydration, mindset. Since I have decided to do a marathon in March 2012 (is it silly to be excited with it so far away?), I want to spend some time learning more about balancing the nutritional aspects of running. I guess it is time for this librarian to hit the books and learn some stuff

Is sleep that important?

Mom
D turned six months last week. I cannot believe it! I took him for his check up today and he is 18 pounds 10 ounces. P and T were only 16+ pounds at a year old. He is a big baby for our bunch. Weight obviously does not translate to sleep for him. He does not nap much during the day but goes down nicely right at 8 each night. That would be OK, but he has been getting up around 4 almost every morning. It is killing us. We give him a bottle because we don't know what else to do, but he doesn't finish it. Luckily, it does put him back to sleep. You would think I would have this down pat by number 3, but I asked the doc for advice today. He said let him cry it out. Basically we are reinforcing his crying by coming to get him. He doesn't need to eat to make it through the night. I guess I just needed the go ahead that it was time to let him cry it out. We'll see how it goes tonight. At least the girls are tracked out if he wakes them up.

Runner
I know sleep is important, but I don't think I have experienced any ill effects from my lack of sleep. I guess when my nights are interruption free and I am able to run like the wind I'll realize how important sleep is to this sport. I have yet to have any sleep problems the night before a race. My upcoming race is a girls' weekend in Myrtle Beach. I'll have to see how I balance the fun with the race. Six of us are running the half so we should all be on the same page.

Be Merry!

Mom
S and I take turns having dates with the girls. It is my turn to go out with P. I am going to ask her tomorrow if we should paint pottery or see a movie. I love our time together. It is so fun to be with them alone. Without the other sister there to interrupt, each of them has a chance to really share tons of stuff that S and I share with each other afterwards.

Runner
I signed up for the White Lake Sprint Triathlon a few days ago. It is on May 15th! I am very excited to do another tri. I did one in June 2009 before getting prego. I have never felt as fit as I did after training for that tri. It is also the only race I have ever trained for alone. There is a lot to be said for motivating and accomplishing something solely for yourself. I look forward to facing the challenge again. My only fear is that the swim is a lot longer than the other sprint and this one is in open water rather than a pool. Yikes!