Pictures from the weekend

Besides doing the triathlon this past weekend, I got to spend some fun time cheering on my older sister, Anna, at her softball tournament.  Here are some photos from us being out.  

Keller and my mom; Anna hitting the ball (yes, yes I know...I should be a professional action photographer!); Keller eating his hand; and Auntie Anna & Keller.

As an update to the ball weekend; Anna and her team lost their first game, putting them into the grueling losers bracket...They played back-to-back-to-back games both Saturday and Sunday to make it all the way to the Championship....where they lost to the same team that put them in that bracket in the first place! Ugh..but as Anna said, 'we only lost to one team all weekend'.  Which is Awesome!! Congrats on 2nd!!

RELAY FOR LIFE! July 30-31 Chippewa Falls, WI

Annie has been on my mind a lot lately.  As she has been with so many of us I'm guessing.  It's been just over 2 months since she died and I think it's really starting to set in that she is gone and most of us won't see her again for a very long long time.

My husband and his clinic have been awesome and allowed me to use them to sponsor at team for the Chippewa Falls, WI 2010 Relay for Life walk.  I am excited, nervous, and excited!! to be able to raise money and actually DO something for the fight.  

The best way to explain what the walk is, is to take it straight from the website, so here it is:

Relay For Life is the American Cancer Society’s signature activity. It offers everyone in a community an opportunity to participate in the fight against cancer. Teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Relays are an overnight event, up to 24 hours in length.

Our event will not be 24 hours! haha.  We are doing a 15 hour walk, 6PM Friday night until 9AM Saturday morning.  We have set our fundraising goal at $1,000.00 and need help reaching it.  We also need team members! Currently we have two.  Him and me.  Yikes, I hope we get some people to sign up!!

Anyways, if you, my dear readers, feel an inclination to help out, here is the website to go to.  http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?fr_id=23126&pg=entry  From here you can sign up and join our team (team name: Stucky Chiropractic of Lake Hallie) or donate. As you hear so often with fundraisers, every dollar helps and even a $1.00 donation would make a difference to us and everyone involved in this fight.  

I'm really excited for our group too because I have plans to offer 5 minute massages for $1.00 and also my mom is coming out to sell her infamous Randall's Best Black Bean Salsa! YUMMMIE!  The theme for this relay is "Birthday"; along the lines of "hoping to celebrate more birthdays".  I'm thinking of a rockstar theme in honor of my rockstar friend Annie.  Because lets be honest, she was one through and through.  And she liked the beverage ;) haha.  My idea might change as the day gets closer or if other people offer up ideas.  

Anyways, I thought I'd add some photos of Annie in case some people reading this don't even know who she was.   

Keller loves pickles!

As we experiment with foods with Keller we love discovering his likes. I don't really pay any attention to the "dislikes" since it just means we'll have to try it again later.

Here are some fun photos of him with his pickle today and a video to go along with it!

I was NOT last! -- UPDATED WITH PICTURES

Today I competed in my second triathlon but basically my first.  Last year as many of you know, I did one when I was 32 weeks pregnant with Keller.  I had a great excuse not to really compete but just to take my time.  This year, I was gunning to get the opportunity to compete with people and do better.  We also signed up for a course that was much longer than the one I did last year.  Last year was 1/4 mile swim, 12 mile bike & 2 mile run/walk.  This year was 1/2 mile swim, 20 mile bike, and 4 mile run.  So, almost double.

I have been trying to train as much as possible for this, but apparently not enough.  Once the swim got underway my mental strength wavered and panic set it.  It was a very far swim out to those buoys and I got nervous...bad bad bad thing to happen in the water with hundreds of people swimming around past you.  So before I even got to the first marker buoy, I flagged the helper people over and had to take a break.  As I caught my breath, my awesome husband caught sight of me (I really think he was nervous for me too...since he was checking to see where I was).  He was already ahead of me, even though he started after me.  And he waited.  I finally got to him once I felt ready to go and we continued on...only for me to take ANOTHER break.  I couldn't relax and get into my rhythm.  So by this point, everyone has now passed us :/.  So much for not being last huh?!  But wait! I got my head together and we were off, I just focused on the buoys and was so pissed at myself for needing to break at all since I knew I could swim this far without a problem.  We continued on (doing only the breast stroke though since I was a little nervous I'd get winded again and freak) and finished the swim without any other assistance from the helpers.  AND as we got close, we passed one person...so NOT last on the swim! Yea...a positive!

So the bike gets underway and Broghan again just stayed with me.  He didn't have to since he is a much much faster biker, but he pushed me for the first 10 miles.  Then as we passed a turn and had to go into more of a tandem  and he noticed my bike seat was low.  So we stopped, he adjusted my seat and we agreed at that point that he should go on ahead and kick some butt!  Him and I together had passed one person and were close to passing another.  From what he said, after leaving me, he passed another 8!! Way to go husband!

As for me...well, I WAS about to pass a guy...I could see him...and then, as I was peddling my little heart out on a decline..my tire swerved and I went a-flyin'. Picture will be soon to follow, but I have a nice road rash on my left elbow & knee (the knee isn't bad at all), and my right palm.  And my right middle-finger is pretty swollen...I think I just jammed it though.  But wow was I pissed AGAIN at myself.  Who falls off their bike going straight! Plus my chain my bike fell off...so there I was on the side of the road, no one around, bleeding and trying to figure out a chain.  I hadn't put a chain on a bike in probably 10+ years!  But I got it on, and I finished the bike part of the race.

Onto the run!  Now this I was ready for.  I love running...or well, enjoy it more than the other two.  I knew I could succeed at this leg and I think I did really well considering I was banged up.  I passed three people on my run! So I think that's a total of five :).  Making me definitely NOT last!

I also finished under 3 hours for sure.  As I crossed the finish line the time was 2:59:25 or something close...but my time will be less than that since I didn't start until almost 20 minutes into that time.  I can't get the official times yet online, but when they get posted I'll be sure to update this post!  And as I said, pictures to follow!

UPDATE: Overall time: 2:38:42
Breakdown:  Swim -- 27:27; 1st Transition -- 3:08; Bike -- 1:24:15; 2nd Transition -- 1:36; Run --41:37


Pictures include: Broghan, his cousin Scott, Scott's wife Julie; All of us x2; action shot of Broghan & I coming out of the water (notice we're by ourselves!); Auntie Anna & Keller watching all the action; Broghan in motion!

Chippewa Valley Doula Services -- Updates

So it's been a while since I've done an update on my progress in becoming a Birth Doula.  So here is what I've accomplished.

I've managed to read, and read, and read A LOT of books.  I've finished close to 10 books about birth, pregnancy, the history of birth, breastfeeding, labor, support and the like.  All thanks to the local library! I'm currently working on a La Leche League, Bradley technique, and Lamaze technique books.  I figured it'd be good to know the "basic" stuff that everyone seems to talk about, so I checked out the originals.

I've also now become a member of the DONA International, Inc. group.  They are the group I will be getting my certification from and being a member is obviously part of that.  I also now have my "packet" that needs to get completed.  Getting that was helpful simply because it is an organized, one-stop place, to know where I stand in terms of completing my requirements.

During May I was able to finally attend all of the Mom's groups in Eau Claire that are held monthly.

Mother's Tea is hosted by a local female chiropractor from Broghan's group, Stucky Chiropractic, offering a break during the month for moms to get together to chat about holistic options. It's a nice gathering that doesn't have a specific agenda other than to meet other moms with similar attitudes.

Then there was the La Leche League meeting. So awesome to be surrounded by other moms who breastfeed!  Sometimes, not being around other moms, I feel alone in this endeavor to exclusively breastfeed until table foods, skipping spoon feeding, and not weening until Keller decides he's ready.  It's always nice to be reminded that just because social pressure is there, doesn't mean I'm crazy for not succumbing to it.

Finally, there was the Holistic Mom's Network meeting.  Talk about feeling at home.  I found a group of women who just made so much sense! (to me anyways).  Again, I had tingles at how comfortable I felt being surrounded by like-minded moms.  This meeting was especially awesome and I learned a lot of cool new things because I was introduced to essential oils.  Everyone has kind of heard of them "lavender oil", "clove oil", "peppermint oil" but I never realized how many things they can be used for.  Lately, I've been using a mix of clove and olive oils to sooth Keller's gums due to his teething.  Awesome!

Beyond learning and going to meetings, I have made substantial progress on my website.  I don't think I've posted the link on here yet but here it is:

www.cvds.weebly.com

Feel free to check it out.  It's not perfect or complete (the new client paperwork is not there and there are some "language" things I want to revise) but it's close.

Along those lines I've ordered business cards that match the website (I've got to match of course ;) ).  I'm especially excited to have these so that I can begin spreading my wings and venter into local businesses to introduce myself and hopefully find clientèle.  :)

All in all, it's very exciting to be doing this! 

I love surprise visits!

Yesterday afternoon I got a lovely surprise text message from my 'first' younger sister, Ashley.  She wanted to come visit!! What a fun mid-week surprise!  Although in theory I'm not far from my family (only 2 hrs...which go by rather quickly on the road), money and schedules keep me from seeing my sisters all that often.  We do pretty good though, about once every 2 to 3 weeks.  Recently though, we haven't been able to catch up with Ashley due to her super busy schedule at Valley Fair (they basically own her life in the summer months).  I was so excited to have her come stay!

Ashley got here late last night (around 10:45) and her and I stayed up until sometime around mid-night chatting away.  It was a nice, lazy morning, getting to snooze and relax until around 10.  Then up and ready to head out the door, we headed to Broghan's office to give him lunch and I got my weekly adjustment (felt SOO nice).  Broghan was a sweetie and offered an adjustment to Ash.  Ashley was a little concerned about his table (it's one that goes up and down...kind of like a ride, so she should have liked it...working at VF and all) but she said she felt much more loose afterwards so yea! :)

Next it was off to pick up Chris (the 12 yr old I nanny) and then to lunch.  We ended the early part of the afternoon over at the Nohelty house watching Top Chef and Ashley got to snuggle Keller during his short-lived 45 minute nap.  I think she loved it!

We decided Chris didn't need us there (his dad was actually home the whole time haha) so we came back to our house and Keller got to spend more time playing and getting attention from his auntie...while I got to finish weeding my garden and take Marvin for a walk.  It was nice having her here to give Keller that kind of attention.  Sometimes I feel bad since Broghan and I get distracted with everyday house duties and work and dinner and everything else in life that while yes, we pay attention to Keller and make sure he is occupied and entertained, I'm sure it is nothing in comparison to the attention he gets from his aunts, uncles and grandparents when they get to see him.

All of that attention paid off too at bedtime tonight.  Ashley hung around to watch bath-time and bed-time routine and as we laid Keller in his crib, gave him his kiss and hug, closed the door and one squawk later...let me repeat that ONE SQUAWK, no hysterical cries, no whimpers, just the squawk...and he was out! and he is still out two hours later :).

So THANK YOU ASHLEY!  Surprise mid-week visits are the best!!

So this is what it feels like..

to SLEEP!

I really think I have forgotten what it feels like to NOT be sleep deprived. But today, I got a little taste, and let me tell you, it is wonderful!

To explain:  Friday was a loong loong day.  I was exhausted. Probably due to the weather (see previous post about how I feel about this weather)...and a full week with the kids I nanny.  They are great kids, it just gets exhausting.  Add to that Keller and his crankiness, dirty diapers every 2 hours, and nursing every 3 and you might begin to understand where I was around the 5 o'clock hour.  Broghan got home and took Keller and I immediately went to our room and hid crawled under the covers and slept.  That was helpful.  Broghan was amazing and gave Keller his bath, got him to sleep, cleaned the kitchen and living room AND made dinner (thank you!).

Once I finally emerged from my cocoon, Broghan and I got to talking about Keller's sleep patterns and how things needed to change.  He finally got me to see how me waking up with Keller every 3 hrs at night was very counterproductive for both of us and that Keller probably didn't really need to eat, he just wanted what he knew he could get...attention from me.  So our first move was to have Broghan get up with him instead of me since we aren't really the "cry-it-out" types.

This is how that went: BAD. Keller cried relentlessly for almost 45 minutes while Broghan was holding, rocking, walking, and snuggling him.  Finally, Broghan got tired and just laid him in his crib.  Within 10 minutes, Keller was asleep. My thought: he must have tired himself out, but I'll take it.  He woke up again at 2, this time I nursed him.  Then back to sleep until 6ish.  Broghan was again, A M A Z I N G, and took Keller for a few hours so I could sleep some more.

Saturday we adjusted and tried again.  This time, we weren't going to go at all and see what happens.  Around 8, we did bed-time routine, laid him in his crib.  Within 10 min. he was out.  Around mid-night the predictable crying began, but I held strong.  Broghan didn't even budge (must've been that male-selective hearing thing).  It was just around 30 minutes (I think....I can't see the clocks at night without my glasses so I was just basing it on how long it felt like) and he was back to sleep.  Huh.  Neat-o.  I, of course, sneaked in to make sure he hadn't been injured or something crazy and, of course, he was fine.  So I went back to sleep.  2AM, he woke- I fed- he went right back to sleep. Awesome.  He didn't wake up again until 8:30! Wowzers..

So now last night, Sunday.  And this is by far the most amazing thing to date (ok, probably not, but I'm still on this sleeping high).  We laid him down around 8:30PM, he fussed for a few minutes, then fell asleep. I heard him around mid-night for, oh, 10 minutes, then nothing.  I went to check on him and (haha) he was curled in the corner of the crib, so I moved him back to the middle and went back to bed.  2AM....nothing.  Huh. Weird. Back to sleep I guess.  Then, not until 6AM did my little man make a peep! Holy cow!

This boy made it from 8:30 until 6 without nursing.  I honestly didn't even think it was possible. But he nursed, and FELL BACK ASLEEP! What?! He didn't get up for the day until 8:30.

So yes, last night to this morning was unbelievable and I'm so dearly hoping for a repeat tonight.  I feel giddy just thinking about sleeping for more than 3 hours straight and not having to get out of bed for a whole night.  I haven't done that is almost a year!   I miss sleep and am happy to have it back in my life.  Please, please don't go away! :)

BTW: I guess we are "cry-it-out" types...never thought I'd join that crowd, but I gotta say, it's working...and it doesn't even feel mean.  But as I was saying to people earlier today, a month ago, I don't think we could have done this...so the timing is right, Keller is ready and very willing to put himself to sleep. Such a big boy!!