Tune In

For those of you who follow the blog, I wanted to present the newest blog for you to follow:

www.dynge3.blogspot.com

I will be documenting Will's first year just like I did for Lilah and probably not updating this blog very much.  I do still hope to be able to update this blog occasionally but I know it will be hard enough to stay on top of one.  So feel free to move on over to Will's Take as he introduces himself to you.

Lilah's New Room

As the pregnancy progressed we slowly went from two kids, one room to two kids, two rooms.  Our light sleeper of a 2 year old and a young infant that we are pretty certain we don't want in our room for three months (before he is sleeping through the night hopefully!) just didn't feel like a good mixture for overall family happiness.  So the plan progressed to moving Lilah into the spare room and downgrading the spare bed to a futon for company.  Then I met Pinterest.  And I couldn't seem to stop myself.  The result is an adorable, exciting "Big Girl Room" for my big girl that makes me feel like I am spoiling her on one hand and jealousy on the other.  After all, I was in high school before I got my "Big Girl Room."  And now our little guy will start to get the attention he deserves for his arrival.

This is our remodel journey in pictures.

Our spare room, already slightly modified after the purchase of the second crib.  Good bye exercise equipment, hello world revolving around kids!

Day 1: painting preparations.  I bought some stencils to "make the project easier" for a fun design on a feature wall.  

I knew Lilah would not take well to painting going on without contributing so I made sure she had a painting project of her own to tackle.  Her project was much quicker than the one in her room, but she loved every second of it. 

Oops, moment of realization that we should have put on disposables hit when we sat in on the paint cup

Doesn't everyone take a break from the artistic process to practice their golf swing?

Day 2: Tedious paint process still underway....  Lilah kept very busy helping, and I kept very busy trying to keep her entertained with other fun things.

Skip to Day 4: Almost done...dark outside...Oh please let this be over soon!  And by the way Lilah - you are never changing this wall!  She seemed to still be having a good time maintaining constant watch over the progress.

Lilah trying out her almost finished Fort.  Complete with pillow mattress, lots of throw pillows, fun lights and of course, books!  

And here it is - the finished product, projects complete...for now.  

One awesome fort. 

One toddler bed.

One refinished nightstand and lamp.

One beautifully painted 'L'.

One futon (Please still come visit!) and wall for future artwork and masterpieces.  

The big picture

 And here is the Big Girl, taking her moving into her new room very seriously.  

So by the time I got this blog together I am happy to report that the "Big Girl" is sound asleep in her new room for the first time.  It will be interesting to see where she is actually sleeping when we sneak in there to take a peek later.  Boy does this feels like a monumental moment.  Lilah is one amazing girl and we are so in love with her right now, even her constant limit pushing.   I know that I should be better at capturing the day to day moments because she never ceases to amaze us with how much she grows everyday.

Growing Quickly

Today we went in for a growth Ultrasound.  They said I was measuring bigger and wanted to check it out.  This will not influence my decision on whether to be induced or not (NOT!) but I will let them try and talk me into it.  So far this "little guy" is already measuring around 5 lbs 3oz and has a head in the 70th percentile.  Yikes!  Here is a couple 3D pictures we got and the bottom one is Lilah for comparison.   I don't see much resemblance, except for the cheeks, so I am thinking he is taking after Shannon - big head and all!  He was crazy active and wouldn't ever sit still enough for her to get a "great" shot.  For most of her tries his foot was up in the way of his face.  A kidder already.  Shannon says this first shot is his "power to the people" shot.

Baby Boy at 32 and a half weeks along

Lilah at 35 weeks along

Exercise, or lack there of

Who would have thought that this one little word has such a huge impact on my life.

I know it has been a long time since my last post.  We were in the groove before the holidays and it just passed us by.  We had a really nice Christmas week vacation in California, even with some sickness mixed in.  It was relaxing and nice to have a whole week with Shannon around.  Seems like we hardly have him home lately.  But the driving did me in.  Not only did I get sick as soon as we got home, but I also aggravated my hips.  I tried Stroller Strides one week after we got home and it was terrible.  I was ready to go back to the level I was at before Christmas and combined with already sore hips, I pushed myself past pain to injury.  I literally couldn't walk, sit or sleep for several days after.  The pain would just escalate the more I tried to stretch or move them, so rest was truly the best thing for me.   Faced with idea of not being able to do Stroller Strides or any "true" exercise besides walking, I went into a funk!  It's January, and by the time I get the postpartum clear to exercise it will be June before I am back.  That brought moments of panic.  Add to that a whinny, defiant 2 year old, and I slipped into downright gloom.  The tipping point was a terrible awful moment in the library.  Yes, public...gasp!  Lilah wouldn't come and kept running the opposite direction.  I tried quiet reasoning, louder yelling, treats, bargaining.  I got no response but giggles and more running in the opposite direction.  I snapped.  I felt intense anger.  I almost injured my child.  I went home and cried...for the rest of the day.   I had to get back out there and burn some energy, get out those pent up emotions, be around somebody else besides Lilah!  I knew something had to give.

So I headed back to Stroller Strides this week.  It is now three weeks later and the hips are feeling better.  If they start to hurt, I just stop what I am doing, take it easy for awhile, and protect them.  I have stepped the activity level down to below "low impact."  Very little running.  No serious strength exercises with the legs and no twisting moves.  But I made it back.   In a few short days, my whole attitude is shifting again.  It is impossible to pinpoint what it is exactly.  But life is just better.  I got a project done for Lilah's new room.  I am feeling less resentment...towards everything, including myself.

So how is it that one little thing, albeit important, can have such an impact on my life?  And how did I survive all those years while I pushed exercise aside for "more important" things?  I think back on some rough patches in my life and wonder how it might have been different.  But there is no going back.  Only moving forward.  And I choose MOVING!

Daily Pictures 2011 - boring version

While we appeal to EMI that we aren't using our Lilah videos with their songs for monetary gain, here is the silent version of the video for those that had trouble viewing the previous post.  

Daily Pictures 2011

We continue our mission to take a picture of Lilah everyday.  It doesn't seem like much each day when I whip out the camera but when we take a look at our results for the year it is truly amazing how much she grows and changes in a year.   We managed to get 328 pictures this year.  So enjoy this look at Lilah.  I think it clearly demonstrates ALL her many moods!

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