Mom's night out ... Babies!

Friday I met up with a group of mom's from SF POM for a ladies night out at the Kabuki (hands down my favorite theater) to see Babies.  It was pretty funny - us, a group of tied mom's of twins, headed in to see a show about babies while the rest of the theater was buzzing with 20 and 30 somethings in heels and feathers going to see Sex and The City (which I'm going to Tuesday). 

The movie was awesome!  There was no talking and it covered the first year of life for a baby in San Francisco, one in Africa, one in Mongolia, and one in Tokyo.  Wow do SF babies have it lush!  It was eye opening looking at the mom groups compared to the women in Africa sitting under trees singing to their babies.  It was also pretty amazing seeing all of the babies crawl around the same time, get frustrated at toys (or rocks) not working, and love their parents.

After the movie we went to the bar next door to catch up.  At the table next to us were a group of girls partying it up for one of the girls' bachelorette.  It was a funny juxtopasition - 6 moms with bags under our eyes and milk pukes on our sweaters (hot) next to 6 late twenty somethings with lacy panties hanging off of them.

It was a great day, it was a horrible day

Sunday was the Kaiser Half. I ran this race last year at 3mo pregnant and vowed never to run it again - the combo of running in my orthodics for the first time (GIANT mistake) and the 4mile out and back (horrible race design) made this race less than fun. That said, a group of friends signed up and being one to always cave to pressure, I did too... well, I signed up very late so I wound up buying a number off someone from my run club (I could have run it bandit, I saw quite a few people do that, but I just can't bring myself to sneak into a race - it's like stealing and the guilt would kill me. That and I would probably wind up telling everyone and then donating more money than the price of the bib # to the cause behind the race).

So, here's the race report Clif Notes:

• Linz, Brett and I taxi'd over
• I had milk puke on my shirt from the boys' breakfast - Cole had a case of the barfs
• At the start Mr. BO of the century stood in front of me - when I stepped right, he did too, when I stepped left, he did too - the stench nearly made me drop to the back. Nearly.
• I went out WAY too fast - 5:38 (!! I still can't believe this, but Garmin says it's true)
• By mile 4 I was miserable, mile 7 gave me a nice second wind
• The out and back was horrible - just as I remembered - luckily I was in the front/middle pack so I only saw people coming "back" for ~3/4 - 1mi
• I finished in 3:33:34 - a new PR by over a minute - happy happy happy! Of course it's a PR under someone else's name ... but whatever

Matt picked me up at the finish and we waited for Brett and Linz. Cole was eating kind of funny, but eating nonetheless. After getting home, the boys and I prepped for lunch and Matt went off to climb. About 2 bites into lunch I knew something as wrong - Cole is normally my eater, but he was pushing all the food away. I felt him and he felt hot hot hot. A quick temp check and I saw that he was 102! I started crying - it's really hard when you see your child is sick - then realized I couldn't be weapy, I had to be mommy, so I called the after hours clinic at the doc. They said to get him in ASAP so I called Matt's climbing gym (one side effect of having 1 car is the need to juggle who is doing what). He came blazing home and we packed the boys up to go to the doc.

Cole's temp spiked up to 103.4 and he just looked miserable. The after hours clinic was ... odd. The front desk guy complained that he thought it was busy because parents were trying to get their kids in before Super Bowl. Really?! Speechless. The doctor was younger than me (I'm starting to have those realizations I am "grown up" - I'm too old to audition for Real World (have been for years), too old for American Idol, and now I'm older than my kids docs - how did that happen?!) The doc was wearing heals and tons of makeup which I found totally odd. When I told the nanny this morning at first she thought the doc was a dude - only in SF would one think that. Funny. All the doc did as say "watch them" and gave them baby Tylenol.

Last night brought more sicks for both Cole and Wilson - Wilson started hacking around midnight and wouldn't go back to sleep. Cole woke up minutes after crying and weazing. We wound up getting up every 30min to sooth the boys but nothing as really working. It's heartbreaking seeing your babies sick - especially because when they're babies they don't know how to make themselves feel better (e.g. blow their noses). Matt wound up putting Wilson in the swing because he only was comfortable sitting up and I brought Cole into bed.

Poor boys.

Some morals:

• When running, standing behind stinky people makes you go out faster - to get away!
• Sick babies break your heart - holding them close to your heart makes them and you feel better
• One sick twin equals two sick twins in a matter of hours

And then I was 30...

The day has arrived - my 30th birthday, that is. It's crazy, when I was a kid 30 was a HUGE milestone - it meant old, "grown up," and serious. Well, it's here and I don't feel old, definitely don't feel "grown up," and I don't think I'll ever be serious. I'm thrilled for my 30s - I think these are going to be some of the best years. My goal for my 30s (warning, hippie blather alert) is to be healthy, happy, and beautiful mentally and physically. What does that mean? Time to give my body breaks ... and push it to the limit (that's right - I'm gonna try pilates AND do more races :) ), I'm going to continue to learn and teach, and I'm going to treat myself well (sunscreen and dental floss).

This weekend we rang in the 30s with style - Friday Matt and I enjoyed Burma Superstar (hands down, my fav restaurant in SF), Saturday brought walking with Nicole and the boys while Matt climbed and then an awesome tapas dinner up the hill, and today (aka B-Day) I ran with GGRC and then hoofed it home for a fantastic picnic in the park with friends.

The boys loved all the pretty girls picnicking with us:









A couple of my favorite things:
(finally getting to test my BOB (not run with it, though), amazing carrot cake cupcakes from Nicole, and Matty playing guitar to the boys when I headed out the door for a run)









And of course:

The nerves

Tomorrow is my "first race back" - I was initially planning to do the Nike marathon but I'm opting for the half because I haven't been able to train nearly enough. Despite doing the shorter distance (13.1), I'm getting the pre-race jitters. These are the kind of jitters that start in the stomach and sneak into the chest leaving through the head with a chill. The kind I got the minute my water broke. The ohmyGod I'm really doing this jitters.

So there's a weird analogy - getting ready to race is like labor. Fear, excitement, and anxiety all hit at the same time. With a race I know what I'm getting into - but this time I have not trained, period. I know it'll be nerve wracking at first, then I'll go out too fast, then I'll hurt, then I'll realize there are still miles to go, then I'll go with it and have a ton of fun finally finishing with a feeling of accomplishment. Labor was different - I didn't know what I was getting into, but it was the same cycle (amplified by a thousand) spread of 36 hours - the finish was much better, though - no race can compare. Other similarities:

• With races I get runners high - in the hospital I got IV high
• Races take a long time (if you do the right ones - the long ones) - labor takes a long time (did for me anyhow)
• Races hurt - labor hurts
• When racing it's easy to hear other runners' stories and expect the same experience, it's never the same - labor is the same (I hear stories of 2-hour labors and then going to workout the next day ... HA)
• The finish line is awesome - when you meet the babies ... actually, that's way more than awesome - that's the best feeling in the world, the feeling words can't match

p.s. I'm going to run like a mom!

Baby room setup

This weekend marked my last shower (don't worry, not the skip and I'll stink kind - the other kind) and it also marked the decorating of the boys' room. Ryan and Meghan, my two fav interior designers, came over to help with the cause. It's crazy walking by the room and seeing two cribs set up... the countdown begins - 4-6 weeks and I'll be happy.

An awesome baby shower

Yesterday marked my final baby shower (side-note, I feel so lucky to have the wonderful friends and family who threw and attended these!) and it was awesome. At 11:30 I made my way over to Nicole's to enjoy great food, fun crafts, generous gifts, and most important - time with good friends.

Nicole was a perfect host - from the food to the decor, everything was magazine perfect:












Craft time was a blast - we worked on mobiles:












My favorite is spending time with good friends:

Surprise work lunch

What a great end to the week - series of baby celebrations! On Friday V and I were walking to Whole Paycheck (Whole Foods) for lunch. On the way there, V crossed the street to check out a new Indian restaurant. Indian food is one of my favs, but on Friday it was not at all - Thursday for dinner we had Indian and I got SO sick I vowed never to eat it again. The scene played out as follows:
V: "I just need to grab a menu"
Me: "I'll wait out here - I can never eat Indian again. Just looking at it I want to throw up in my mouth a little."
V: "Just come for one sec"
Me: "No, really, you don't understand, I can't even walk in the door"
V: "Change of plans - we're eating here!"
Me: "Are you kidding me? Do you want me to die?"
V: (now looking stuck) "No, Amber, really, you have to eat here"
Me: "Huh" (not the brightest at this point)
V: "Reservation for 6"

My co-workers surprised me with a celebration baby lunch! Apparently I'm not good at setting surprises around (they had to reschedule 3 times because I kept having to go to doctor's appointments) nor am I a good recipient (without knowing it I slammed to restaurant choice).

Lunch wound up being terrific and the surprises continued when we got back to the office and V made me head to a conference room where the whole office was waiting with home-made blue cupcakes.

What a fantastic day!!!!!!!!

Oh Baby! Weekend round-up - a babylicious time

(My boys love hanging out with Wonder already - every time we going walking or I get to hold him they both stick their heads out (turning my belly into an alien-esque ball))

This weekend was one of baby prep, baby pics, and baby ed. Friday night Matt went to kick up his heels at the Avett Brothers (awesome band if you've never heard of them) and after a quick workout I started organizing the boys' room. We finally bought a dresser so I have a place to stash the 100+ onsies we've accumulated already (these boys will be well dressed!)

Saturday we had a photo shoot - I figure if we're only going to be pregnant once we should capture the moment (and you've seen the extent of our photo journalistic skills - lacking). The shoot was awesome! I'll post photos soon.

Sunday Leanne and I set off for a morning GGRC walk (although I think we were the only GGRCers there as a) it was roasting hot, b) it was Bay to Breakers, and c) it's trail race season so weekends are often filled with trails). I'm loving our Sunday walks because I get some baby training with Wonder and good girl time with Leanne. Sunday evening Matt and I went to Peter and Jill's for "baby training" where they taught us swaddling, bathing, feeding, and Matt "got" to change his first diaper. Their baby is a little angel so he's setting a high bar!

All in all, a great weekend! I'm ready for another ;o)

19 weeks and growing!

Here's what prompted the "Oh my gosh - you've grown" comments at work today (the actually belly live (but sweatered - I'm not a belly-shirt-at-work kinda girl, not the photos):

Full frontal - bumpity:












BAM! There is is (there they are):

Baby reality!

Ryan, the twins' new auntie-to-be, was one of the early ones to hear about our growing family (Matt + Amber squared). We told her Saturday on her birthday and it was hilarious - Rye and I studied in London together so saw all the very non-mom-to-be activities. She also lived with Matt and I in separate stints so she knows our family well. Last night she brought over our very first baby gifts and it still brings little (teeny tiny) tears to my eyes - so nice!!!!!!

The "Oes" as dubbed in London









Not sure what's going on with the hand here - let's call it excitement












Little itty bitty baby clothes - so CUTE!