I'm Not Done Writing

Well it has been a while! In my last post I was 22 weeks pregnant and now I have a sweet, precious, adorable baby boy! And you mamas know there are simply no words to describe the joy, the brightness, the amazing blessing it is to have a baby boy. A second child. Two precious amazing creations. My heart bursts on a daily basis. I know it is cheese Louise but there it is. My cup overflows. My bucket overflows!

My little guy (Matthew) was born on January 3, three days passed his due date. ACK! I had convinced myself I'd have him even earlier than Eloise who showed up at 39 weeks. So come Christmas Day, I expected a baby in hand... but it wasn't to be. I went a little crazy at first, but eventually made peace that God had a reason for the wait. I almost had a birthday baby, but instead I took my bundle home on my birthday, January 5. You can't beat that birthday present!

He's 12 weeks now and a smiley, talkative, squooshy little ball of fun. He sleeps like a champ (don't hate, but I've been spoiled by his sleep habits from our first night home).  He's a good eater and he doesn't fuss unless he's tired or hungry. Eloise loves him. She kisses him, talks to him, wants to hold him and gets anxious when I suck the snot out of his nose and he screams.

Eloise... she is an amazing, spitfire of a 2 year old. She's every bit of 2. Wonderful and horrible all at the same time. I love it all, though. Every stage, every challenge, every hilarious thing she says and does. She is such a bright, happy, funny girl and she brings me immeasurable joy.

So I guess you can see we are doing well.

And I'm running! Without a passenger and every time I set out I am so grateful! I remember LONGING for the moments I'm living today. Feet moving, heart pounding, lungs pumping, arms swinging, wind behind my ears... all of it. I raced quite a bit this pregnancy, my last race being my last real run on Thanksgiving Day - around 35 weeks pregnant. I began speed walking with wild abandon after that. I had to have caused a few grins from any neighbors who spotted me... had to. I made myself grin. But it kept me sane so on I walked.

Running post pregnancy this time around is different too. I have a better pace and I got it much sooner. I'm limiting mileage this time... taking my time in the building of it. I'm up to 5 miles but I've only done that once. I run 3-4 times a week, 3-5 miles. I do weights twice a week and that has made a huge difference I believe. My first 5k I ran 8 weeks post baby and my time was 25:37. Two weeks later I did another at 25:05. I was both surprised and excited about this. I'm hoping my next 5k has a 24 in front of my time. We shall see. I can't expect them all to be faster, but I'm going to work on that this summer.

I'm keeping my mileage short for a few reasons. I don't want to spend a lot of time doing it. I have two babies, after all, and I'm nursing one of them. I want to hang on to my milk supply and my energy. My little guy seems to have a milk allergy so I'm off dairy. That has been an aggravating challenge, but no matter how fed up I get with my food restrictions, I press on. It's worth it to me.

I also don't want to get injured. I've had a few new-runner-body issues and I've eased up a few times to let them work themselves out or heal. Mostly just an angry IT band. I'm enjoying my journey back so far and that is what matters the most. I plan to stick with 5ks and maybe a 10k or two for most of 2015. Jason and I sort of made a pact to do so, although we may throw in a 10 miler or two as well. I want to build pace before I cram in a lot of mileage. I focused solely on mileage after Eloise was born and I want a different strategy this time around.

For now, that's what's up! I've got to hurry off and get in my weight workout now, but I'll post pictures of Mr. Cuteness soon.  I made a New Year's Resolution to write at least once a week this year. I gave myself permission to get used to two kids for a while, and I think I'm there now.  So here we go...  a brand new adventure as a family of four, a mom of two, a full heart and a body ready to run!