Me and The Boys

The Countdown Is On

31 weeks as of this past Friday, so we are now counting down to this baby's arrival in single digits - just 9 weeks to go. And as you might imagine, that's making me pretty preoccupied with lots of baby thoughts. 

I'm also trying to savor every kick and squirm I feel, because I know this is the last time I'll ever do this. I'm fine with that - I'm ready to be done - but it does make me a little sad. There is nothing quite so amazing as growing a person inside of you, and I try really hard to not lose sight of how lucky I am that I have had the privilege of doing this three times. 

When I went for my appointment last week, the baby was still head up, but today I've been feeling like he/she might be transverse, which could mean that he's moving into the head-down position. Let's hope that's the case! 

Last week was one of the laziest weeks I've had in a long time. With Gabe being sick over the weekend, and Dante being sick Monday, and then me feeling congested and out of sorts for much of the remainder of the week, I didn't get to the gym once. Blech. But I just wasn't up to it. I felt like my body needed to rest, so I rested. 

I was able to get out to my prenatal yoga class Sunday morning, though, and it was awesome. It was a gorgeous day - in the 60s and sunny - and part of me felt like it was a shame to not be out running in such beautiful weather, but I actually found myself feeling like I was more excited to be going to yoga. I miss running, but when I think about it lately, instead of focusing on how much I miss not being able to do it right now, I find myself thinking more about how great it will be when I am able to get back out on the road, minus at least some of this weight I've put on. 

Because really, even though I still enjoyed the running I was able to do those last few weeks, it was not easy hauling these extra 30 pounds around, and I am really looking forward to feeling somewhat lighter on my feet the next time I put on my running shoes and head out. Not that I think my first post-baby run will be easy, by any means, but I will at least weigh a little less than I do now!

The boys are doing well. We're still all dealing with a lingering cough and congestion from whatever it was that we were all sick with last week, but aside from that (knock on wood), everyone is doing ok. But then today we got a note home from Gabe's school telling us that someone in his class has strep throat, so now we'll wait and see if that hits next.....  I have a feeling it's going to be a long winter. 

Dante, after giving up on napping for a while, has started napping kind of regularly again. Not every single day, but 3 or 4 days a week, which is fine by me. He definitely seems less crabby on the days that he naps, so it's clearly not a bad idea for him to be getting that extra sleep. But if we have something to do in the afternoon and he isn't able to get in a nap, I don't feel too awful about him skipping it. 

Our previously sweet little boy has become rather defiant, though, and just loves to challenge us on everything, and has become just as good at testing my patience as Gabe is. I know he's just figuring out what he can get away with, but wow, can it be frustrating. 

But then on the days that he naps, he loves to snuggle up with me when he wakes up, and we sit on the couch quietly for a few minutes. And in the morning, he comes into our room very quietly, climbs up on the bed, gets right between me and Scott, gets himself all covered up with our blankets, and will lay there relatively quietly until we get up and bring him downstairs. So he's still a sweetheart - just a much more assertive, opinionated, and less agreeable sweetheart. 

Gabe is doing great at school. I posted yesterday about his writing skills, which I'm still kind of blown away by. He still loves his 'girlfriend' Erin, and told me he's going to marry her. 

He's slightly less tired when he gets home from school these days, and sometimes will even be chatty and excited and tell me some of the things he did at school, which is always a treat. 

Tonight he shared with us a song that he claims one of his friends at school taught him. The lyrics are as follows - "I comb my hair and twist my underwear. Dirty diaper. Toilet, toilet, toilet." 

I asked him who taught him the song, and he told me the girl's name - yes, it was a girl (they are just as well-skilled in the area of potty humor as boys are), and I said "Oh, is she your friend?"  And he grinned and said "Yes, she's the BEST!" 

Whoever this girl is, she knows exactly how to win the heart of a 5-year-old boy. Erin better watch out.....

Very Proud Mommy

Gabe and Dante were working on birthday cards for their cousin this morning, and I decided to let Gabe try to write his message himself, and this is what he came up with:

HAPE BRTHDA LOV GABE

Granted, his spelling skills are not quite up to par, but I was totally impressed. That's the first time I've ever asked him to try to write something like that on his own, and he did so well sounding out each word and trying to figure out the correct letters to write. I'm going to let him do a lot more of this, now that I know he's capable of it. 

My little boy is really, really growing up. 

YMCA Pumpkin Run 5K - 30 Weeks Pregnant And Done

I decided quite a while ago that I wanted to run until I was 30 weeks pregnant. Obviously I knew it would all depend on how my pregnancy was going, and whether or not I had even an inkling of any complications, which would cause me to stop sooner. But I still had that 30-week goal in mind, and I had one last race in mind, too - a 5K put on by the local YMCA. 

As with every race I've done while pregnant, it was penciled in on the calendar, but the final decision wasn't made until the morning of the race as to whether or not I'd be there. 

Luckily, as with every other race, I was able to get a decent night's sleep, and woke up feeling good, so I made my way down to the race start with plenty of time to spare. Us pregnant ladies need to leave lots of extra time for potty breaks before a race, because 5K races do NOT have porta-potties on the course, and right now, running for 30 minutes without stopping to pee is a big challenge - honestly, that was one of my biggest concerns that morning. 

A friend was also doing the race - it was her first 5K ever - so she and I chatted for a bit and headed to the start together. It was a great day for a race - cool and calm - and I was sporting my hand-drawn pumpkin shirt, which got quite a few laughs and comments. I figured since it was my last race for a long time, I might as well go out in style : ) 

Since I run in this area of town all the time, I've run the actual race course many, many, many times, so knew exactly what to expect. The first quarter mile or so is downhill, and even though I'm 30 weeks pregnant, it was a race, so I started out too fast. My first mile clocked in at 9:17!  I felt good, though, and knew I was going to slow down, since the rest of the course was either flats or slight inclines. 

And slow down I did - my second mile was around 10:30, and included a few rolling hills. I actually passed three people on one of those hills, though - I couldn't quite believe it. But I wasn't pushing myself - I was keeping to an easy, conversational pace. 

As we headed into the third mile, I was definitely getting tired. The last mile was mostly flat, with just one small incline toward the end, and then a small downhill leading up to the finish line. I couldn't resist one final kick to the finish, so although my 3rd mile was run in just over 10:30, my final .1 was run at around an 8:20 pace : )   

But when I was done, I knew I was done. I really wasn't that tired, but my back and all the muscles below my abdomen were really sore - that's where I've been feeling the most soreness when I've run these past few weeks. And as much as I've still been enjoying being out there and running, the soreness has begun to outweigh the enjoyment. 

Add to that the fact that Dante made his arrival 6 weeks early, and I just feel that it's time for me to slow down and ease myself into these final few weeks of pregnancy.

I lingered at the post-race festivities for a while, since it'll be quite some time before I'm in that environment again, and I wanted to enjoy every last moment of it. And while I was lingering, I checked the results, and was happy to see that I didn't come in last. 

And I'm happy I was able to make it to the 30-week mark, and to do almost one race every month. The only month I skipped was October, due to my back hurting so much. But since this one was the first day of November, maybe it can count for both months?  : ) 

The final stats - 

4 weeks pregnant - Providence Half-Marathon - 1:50:09

9 weeks pregnant - Matty Siravo 5K - 28:05

13 weeks pregnant - Camire's Firecracker 4-Miler - 37:37

17 weeks pregnant - Newport Naval Station Sprint Triathlon - 1:34:37

24 weeks pregnant - CVS Caremark 5K - 31:53

30 weeks pregnant - YMCA Pumpkin Run 5K - 31:25 (67 out of 75 overall, 8 out of 9 in age group)

Yay me! 

Now it's time to start planning my post-pregnancy race schedule......

Halloween Weekend

Our weekend was eventful, but not quite in the way we had hoped it would be. We kicked off our Halloween festivities Friday night with a Pumpkin Walk at Gabe's school. Every family brought in one or more pumpkins they had carved, and they lit them all and lined them up around the school grounds - it was very cool, and the boys enjoyed checking out all the pumpkins. They also had hayrides, and a bake sale, and plenty of decorations inside the school to look at, so it was a fun event. The boys were so happy to finally get to wear their costumes. 

Gabe had been coughing a lot that day, though, and as we left the school Friday night, he was looking pretty rundown, so I wasn't terribly surprised when he woke up at 1am Saturday morning with a fever. The fever stayed pretty high all day Saturday, even with Tylenol. He'd perk up a bit when the Tylenol kicked in and the fever went down, but as soon as the medication wore off, he was back to laying on the couch again. 

Obviously we're concerned about the fact that he could have the infamous H1N1, and hoping that even if that is what it was, he'll be like most, and with a few days of rest and TLC, will be back to his old self. We're also hoping that the vaccines Dante and I received last Friday had been in our systems long enough to offer the two of us some protection, so we don't end up with it, too (if that's what it is). 

And the other concern was that of trying to explain to a 5-year-old that he might have to miss out on trick-or-treating. But with a well-timed dose of Tylenol, he was able to muster the energy to go out and trick-or-treat at 5 or 6 houses. We reminded him to keep his hands out of people's candy bowls, so as not to spread any germs that way, and he had a mask covering his face, so he wasn't coughing on people - lest you think we were just letting him loose to go infect the entire neighborhood with whatever he's got. 

The 5 or 6 houses was more than enough, though - he was ready to come back home after that, and surprisingly, so was Dante - I think Dante was just eager to get home so he could eat some candy! I was just happy that he didn't have to miss out on Halloween entirely. It was an early Halloween night, and luckily his fever didn't get too high during the night, and he was able to get a good night's sleep - as was I, which was good, because I really needed it after being up with him for nearly two hours Friday night.

He's feeling better today - he just had a very low fever this morning, and then it seemed to go away. His appetite is still almost nonexistent, but he did eat more today than yesterday - including a few pieces of candy, of course. His cough got bad again tonight, though, so I'm hoping that doesn't keep him up tonight. 

He'll definitely be staying home from school tomorrow, and depending on how tomorrow goes, he may be home again on Tuesday. We'll just have to see how he does. 

Dante and I went out for a while yesterday while Scott stayed home with Gabe, but they both spent the whole day inside today, so were a little stir crazy by the end of the night. We got them both to bed early, and are hoping for another good night's sleep - we all need it. 

Today was my 5K, and I'll write more about that tomorrow, but the short version is that it went great. It was absolutely my last race until after the baby, though, and most likely my last run until after the baby, too. The post-run aches and pains have gotten to the point that they outweigh the enjoyment. I knew that day would come, so I'm mostly ready for it. Sad, but I've accepted it. And I am pretty happy that I accomplished my goal of running up to my 30th week. Granted, I didn't run a whole lot these past two weeks, but I did run, and capped it off with a race today, so I made it! 

Three quick little tidbits from the boys - 

I've been replaced. Gabe no longer wants to marry me. He said he's going to marry Erin (his girlfriend from school). He has even gone so far as to request that I make his lunches peanut-free, so he can sit at the peanut-free table for lunch, because that's where Erin sits. Things are getting serious.....

I can't remember what we were talking about the other day, but Gabe was talking about having a job, and he said "When I grow up, I'm going to be one of those worker guys." Luckily he has many more years to narrow that down a bit. 

Dante, on the other hand, is much more decisive - and eager to enter the working world. According to him, he's going to "grow up and be a rock star tomorrow."

They're also both already talking about what they're going to be for Halloween NEXT year! Their little minds never stop.   

Overdue

No, I'm not referring to the baby, who still has a good 11 weeks before making his or her appearance. I'm referring to the fact that Scott and I escaped to NYC this weekend for our first overnight trip without children since Gabe was a year old. Gabe is now almost 6. That's a looooooong time without a child-free trip! 

We aren't going to start making a habit of it, but I think from here on in, we are going to try to make it happen a bit more frequently than once every 5 and a half years, because it was pretty awesome. It's going to get trickier, of course, now that we're going to have yet another child to be babysat, but we'll figure something out so that we can have another escape in the not-so-distant future.

This time we were getting away to celebrate our 10-year anniversary, which was last month, so we went all out and spent the night in NYC. We didn't stay in a fancy expensive hotel, because we prefer to spend our money on fine food. The hotel we stayed in was fine, though - small room, but perfectly nice, and - these are the key words - quiet and peaceful. 

The dinner, though, was out of this world. We ate here, and it was every bit as good as we expected it to be. The food was phenomenal - handmade spinach tortellini that I could eat every night; little morsels for tasting in between courses; venison and winter vegetables with a scrumptious sauce; and an incredible chocolate caramel dessert, followed by a basket of fresh-from-the-oven, still warm madelines and a tray of mini petit-fours. 

Just as good as the food was the service. We used to go into the city once (and sometimes even twice) a year for a few years before we had kids, and our trips always included a fancy dinner, and we've eaten at some of the greatest restaurants in the city, and this place is absolutely included in that category. It's so incredible to receive the level of service these places offer - you feel so ridiculously pampered - a new set of silverware for every course; a sommelier who stopped at the table after every course; several different waitstaff attending to our every need. They even had a tiny little footstool next to the table for me to rest my purse on, so I didn't have to hang it on the chair or put it on the floor! 

Of course, you pay for all that pampering, and boy, did we pay! It was by far the most expensive dinner we have ever eaten in our lives, but neither of us regret it. It was more than a meal - it was an experience. And when you're celebrating your 10th anniversary, you deserve to really live it up - which can sometimes mean ordering a $23 glass of wine (yes, $23 a GLASS!). 

A dinner we won't soon forget, that's for sure. And one of the best parts was that we got there at 6:15, and didn't leave until 8:45. The whole meal was so relaxed, and we never felt like we were waiting too long for anything, but never felt rushed, either. It was wonderful to sit and relax and savor everything.

Aside from that, our time in the city was pretty uneventful. We spent much of our time lounging around the hotel room, enjoying the fact that we had absolutely nothing we had to do, and nobody we had to take care of. It was quite a treat. The worst thing, though, was that even though we could have slept in as late as we wanted on Sunday morning, we were both awake at 6am. But we didn't have to actually get up for any reason, so it was better than being woken up at 6am and having to go make someone breakfast!

The boys, meanwhile, had a pretty fabulous time themselves at their first-ever sleepover. And in their minds, they probably had just as great a gastronomic experience as we did, seeing as how they got lots of special Grammy and Grampy treats, like Fluffernutters, Mac and Cheese, M&Ms, and Munchkins. 

They were so distracted and so busy playing when we were leaving to catch the train Saturday, they weren't the least bit upset, and according to the reports we got, they didn't seem terribly concerned with us not being there. So all went well, and they slept ok, too. 

Gabe had such a great time that he told us on the way home that he wants to live at Grammy and Grampy's. I asked him wouldn't he be sad not to see Mommy and Daddy every day, and he said that Grammy and Grampy could be his Mommy and Daddy. So, clearly, everyone had a great weekend. 

A busy weekend, though, seeing as how we stayed for dinner with everyone last night and then didn't get home until almost 9:30. The boys slept most of the ride home, though, and slept in until after 7am this morning, so we're all rested up now, and have a relatively quiet week ahead, which is good, because the Halloween festivities commence on Friday night, so we're in for another busy weekend!