Just breathe

The boys have successfully passed their colds onto Matt and I and are now in full fledged toddler hood.  You know what doesn't mix so well?  Two tired parents and two screaming, running toddler boys.  But you know what brings the more happiness than imaginable?  Two screaming, running toddler boys. 

This morning, in an effort to get everyone to simmer down a little, I popped in Mandy Ingber's Yogalosophy Workout DVD and started stretching (squatting, lunging, and balancing) for my om. 

The boys thought it was the greatest game, and I was the greatest fort, ever.


After a whirlwind morning of Farmer's Market with Lisa and her brood, cleaning and playtime, and lunch I snuck in a quick run before meeting Nicole, Salil and RJ at the park.

And so I run

Not sure if it's allergies or a cold or just wanting a very long nap, but I've been laggy lately.  And hence comes the importance of run club - break the lag!  This morning I rose with the boys (OK, I let them chat for about 15min before getting them up), brushed teeth, put them in high chairs, kissed Matt while he was cooking pancakes in the kitchen, and bee-lined out the door to get to run club. 

I met with the Greenlake crew at 7am for a nice 8miler around town.  The run felt awesome.  We averaged about an 8min mile pace and the leaders had an incredible kick at the end (I just watched and trotted along in awe).  Nothing like a morning run to give some much needed energy for chasing the boys through the day.

And now, it's waiting time for an 11:30pm meeting for work.  Yes, work.  Yes, on Saturday.  Yes, during a 3-day weekend.  But I made it for a run this morning so I feel fine.

Race reports: trails to road

I'm late on two race reports (more important things got in the way I'm afraid) ... BUT, race season is upon us and I couldn't be happier.  Two weeks ago I did a 5 miler - the first in the Cougar Mountain series.  I did "meh" but it was definitely a good reminder race.  Some lessons learned:

• Drink water!!!  I had a Pete's coffee and forgot water completely - after mile one I was dying
• Wear trail shoes on trails - my old road shoes just didn't cut it
• Have fun - OK, I had fun.  But the whole water thing threw me off.

I wound up coming in 3rd female with a blah time.  Again, lessons learned.

Last weekend I ran Seattle's Best 15k - the inaugural race.  I came in 3rd female out of 253 (but they gave me an award for 2nd because the first two tied - free clothes!) and 20th overall out 417 of with a time of 1:05:25 (7:01 mile pace).  This was a fun one as I started the race with the Greenlake run club guys.

Respiratory problems in toddlers

This weekend we experienced our first ER visit for Wilson and it was incredibly tough.  Friday afternoon Wilson came home from daycare with a cough and sniffles.  By late Saturday morning he was clearly sick and lethargic - ready to lay down and sleep an hour after getting up which our little energizer has never been.  By evening Wilson was struggling to breathe - he was still chasing Cole and trying to run and jump off the couch, but he was clearly struggling and was slowing down. 

After a call to after hours care, we decided to take Wilson to the ER "just to be safe."  Immediately when I got to the ER they sent us to a room and two nurses appeared to simultaneously take his vitals and give him meds.  He was struggling so much to breathe they gave him steroids and an hour long treatment of albuterol, then put him on oxegyn. 

When the albuterol only kind of helped his lungs open up, they wisked Wilson off for an x-ray.  He's such a sweetheart the whole time he was getting the x-ray he was dancing and waving at the nurses (he loves girls and attention so all the nurses were better than a day at the aquarium for him).  The x-ray showed Wilson didn't have pnemonia (hurray) but he was still struggling, so they made us check in.  Through the night they gave Wilson oxygen and albuterol treatments - finally, Sunday at 2pm we were allowed to check out. 

I HATE giving our boys prescription meds and was hesitant about the albuterol.  When I got home from the hospital (I got home and Matt went to be with Wilson on Sunday), Cole and I scrubbed the entire house (OK, I cleaned and Cole sat on the broom and vacuum saying "Wishon?..." while pointing at the door alternating with "mesh" pointing at the floor).  We're seeing the prescribed treatment out because we do NOT want our baby back in the hospital and we're also on the hunt for what's going to help.

I have to say, Wilson handled being in the hospital and sick a lot better than me.  Bringing him in and seeing him hooked up to a machine, I wept.  Wilson on the other hand had a ton of fun playing with all his new friends and getting to watch tv for the first time.

Mother's Day ... the toddler years

Today was Mother's Day times two (heck, twin toddlers - times twenty thousand!)  It was an incredible Mother's Day.  Last night we had co-worker's over for "appy hour" (a riff off the store name that I work for within Amazon) and had a house full of 8 adults and 8 kids 15mo to 5 years old.  Needless to say, it was an incredibly fun and exhausting night. 

This morning Matt got the boys up and gave me a blissful hour extra of sleep so I didn't rise until 7:30am. 
We had a whirlwind day - play time morphed to hop in a stroller (the boys, not us) and walk to Essential Baking Company for breakfast.  After breakfast and a nice misty walk back, we read a few books (the boys LOVE reading) then hit the road again to get juice from a semi-local juice bar - in my ongoing effort to be healthy I keep trying to find the perfect raw/vegan/juice joint for a Sunday kick.  I keep trying to be healthy and wind up with a mouthful of mushroom soy soup ... blech.  I think middle of the road is the right path.

The boys kept pushing for independence - besides wanting to run around outside by themselves, Cole insisted on putting his hat on by himself:

And Wilson wanted to put boots on by himself:

This afternoon we made our way to a park to play play play and then went to Boom Noodle for dinner.  Ah dinner - the time when families get together to mellow out after a long day.  Not at all!  Boom didn't have any highchairs so we wound up with the toddlers (literally toddling) in booster seats.  Wilson kept climbing out of the seat and under the table, to trying to get on the table.  He then took the nice ice water straw laden sippy cup and dumped it down my shirt.  Oof.

You know what makes mommy-hood worth it?  Everything.