health | Marriage Confessions health | Laugh. Fight. Stay Married.

Yesterday we took Gracie in to get tubes in her ears. I was a little worried going into it, but mostly I was excited for her. Gracie’s ears have been such trouble for her, and I was so ready for them to be cleared up. She’s getting to the age where she’s trying to form words and we can tell that she’s having trouble doing that because she can’t hear very clearly. It was time for tubes.

We had to be at the surgery center by 6:00am, so we got the kids up and going at 5:00 and headed out. They checked Gracie in and we waited for almost an hour (which really irritated me because they made us get there so gosh darn early). The hardest part of waiting was that Gracie hadn’t been able to eat breakfast that morning, and so we made Bean wait on his breakfast, too, until Gracie went back in to surgery. Otherwise, Gracie would have been really mad. So, we had two tired and hungry kids to keep entertained. It was a little tough. I brought a backpack full of activities, so we all four sat around and played games and colored until it was time to go back.

When they finally called Gracie back, it went relatively quickly. We had to put her in a hospital gown and sit her in the big hospital bed. She was not happy with any of that. She didn’t want anything to do with the hospital. She pretty much cried from the moment we went back to the moment we left. We did as much as we could to keep her happy, but it was hard to blame her. I don’t like hospitals either.

When it was time for her to go back with the doctor, a team of nurses came to get her. Gracie had been infatuated with one of the surgical nurses from the moment we got there. I don’t know what it was about her, but Gracie just stared and stared at her the whole time we were there. Whenever this nurse came into the room, Gracie would actually stop crying and stare at her. When it came time for them to take her from me, that nurse came and got her and Gracie was so distracted by staring at this woman that she didn’t really notice that she was leaving us. I’m sure she cried when she got back to the operating room and realized we weren’t there, but I just try not to think about that…

We waited for about 15 minutes and then the doctor came out and brought us back to a little private waiting room to tell us about the procedure. She said it went well, but that Gracie’s ears looked awful when she was in there. There was so much fluid in them and both her eardrums were inflammed. The doctor said she cleaned and drained everything out, but she still put her on an antibiotic and ear drops to clear up any infection. Overall, though, she said it went great.

“She’s a feisty girl!” the doctor told us.

The nurse told us that Gracie might be sensitive to sound for the next couple days because she isn’t used to hearing at full volume. They told us to try to keep things a little quiet that day to help her adjust. With two dogs and two small kids, our house is anything but quiet. Turns out, Gracie ended up being the loudest of them all! By 10:30 that morning, Gracie was back to her normal self. She was babbling, yelling, laughing, playing, walking, and just generally enjoying life with her newly improved ears.

So far, she has been perfectly fine with her tubes. The only time we’ve noticed anything different was this morning. Normally, Gracie is the last of the family to wake up in the mornings. We all get loud with getting dressed and having breakfast around 6:30, but Gracie sleeps through that and doesn’t wake up until I go in and get her until 7:00. But this morning at 6:30, I heard her start crying in her crib, which was another difference because she never cries when she wakes up. I found her sitting in her crib, mad as anything. She wasn’t even crying, she was yelling with her hands over her ears. It was such a clear message: “WHY ARE YOU ALL SO LOUD?!?!?!?”

And then tonight, she woke up several times when the dogs started barking or when Bean started yelling, and she has never done that before. I think she is just able to hear a lot more now and it seems to make her a little bit lighter of a sleeper. I’m pretty sure she just has to get used to her new ears and then she’ll be just fine with the volume in our house.

At least, I hope so because I keep looking for a volume button for our household and I have yet to find one…

So far, the tubes have been such a blessing for little Gracie. It was a super easy procedure with so very little recovery time. I’m so happy for her. New ears are so fun!

30 comments | posted in health, Marriage Confessions, Parenting | tags: baby development, health, tubes for babies

Tomorrow morning at the butt-crack of dawn, we’re going to be heading to the hospital so that Gracie can get tubes in her ears. I feel really good about it. Gracie hasn’t had a doctors appointment since Thanksgiving when she hasn’t either had an ear infection, a double ear infection, or fluid in her ears. I am so happy that she will have some relief from the constant ear aches, and that we might have some relief from the constantly missed work.

This afternoon, I had a voice mail from the doctor’s office asking me to call them back to answer a health questionnaire for Gracie. Since I teach, it is really hard for me to step out and take a personal phone call, so I sent Chris a quick email and asked him to call the doctor’s office for me. He emailed me back an hour later and all his email said was, “That was hard.” When he got home from work, he once again told me how hard the questionnaire had been. Finally, when he said it again over dinner, I asked him straight out, “What exactly did they ask you?”

Following is the question and answer session Chris told me he had with the nurse. I dare you to read it and not wet your pants.

Nurse: How old is Gracie?
(Correct answer: thirteen months)
Chris: She’s still a baby.

Nurse: How much did Gracie weigh when she was born?
(Correct answer: 8lbs, 2oz)
Chris: She was medium sized.

Nurse: How much does Gracie weigh now?
(Correct answer: 21bs)
Chris: She’s about the weight of a watermelon.

Nurse: How tall is Gracie?
(Correct answer: 29in.)
Chris: She’s pretty short.

Seriously. These are the things my husband knows about our daughter. It’s frightening. I told him that we have to get there early tomorrow so that I can correct our paperwork so they don’t dispense the anesthesia for a short, medium-sized, watermelon weight baby.

46 comments | posted in Around the House, Dads, Fun Things, health, Husbands, Marriage, Marriage Confessions, Parenting | tags: dads, Family, humor

Thank you all so much for your support of my new running habit. It is really intimidating to start a new hobby, especially one that is so foreign to my body, and your encouragement and kind words really motivate me to keep going.

I promise that I will eventually stop blogging about this like I’m the first person to run in the history of forever, but I have gotten a lot of questions about my running routine over the past couple weeks and I thought I’d take a post to answer some of them. Remember, I’ve only been doing this for just over two months, so I am nowhere near an authority, but I’m happy to share what I’ve figured out so far.

What app do you use for running? I’ve gotten this question more than any other. For the first month I started running, I used the Jeff Galloway Easy 5k app. My mother-in-law is a great runner and she suggested Jeff Galloway to me when I first started because he builds endurance and strength through an easy run/walk patter (run one minute, walk one minute). After a month, I had built up enough stamina that I was ready to run on my own without a coaching app, and I became more focused on distance. I switched over to the Nike+ GPS app – and it is awesome! It tracks your run, logs your miles every run, and lets you listen to your own music or to music through another app (like Pandora). I highly recommend both of these apps if you are starting out like me.

What kind of equipment or supplies do you need? Because I have a bad habit of quitting hobbies (i.e. quilting, crocheting, baking, scrapbooking, gardening, sewing… Shall I go on?), I started out using just what I had in my closet. I wasn’t going to go buy anything until I proved to myself that I was really going to stick with this. So, at first I used an old pair of tennis shoes from Walmart that I bought in college, and a sports bra and cheerleading shorts I had from high school. Finally, after I realized how much I really love running, I have started slowly acquiring running attire. I bought a cute pair of reversible running shorts from Target (though my friend, Sarah, reminds me that you should get the running shorts that have the spandex shorts underneath so prevent chaffing), and I have a pair of spandex calf-length running pants, too. I’ve bought a few more sports bras, too, and I usually wear tank tops or fitted tees with them. Fitted shirts are better to run in for me because they aren’t as heavy and thick as t-shirts, and heat is a real problem in Florida. I also have a super cute running skirt that has little spandex shorts underneath. I love running in a running skirt. It’s so much cooler!

My parents just bought me a brand new pair of Asics that I wanted.

Do you listen to music while you run? Definitely! Some mornings I listen to a Christian praise and worship station on Pandora, and other mornings when I need a little oomph I listen to the Katy Perry station on Pandora. I also searched high and low to create the perfect playlist for myself, and I finally have it! I scoured Runner’s World and other running websites and put together a playlist based off of playlists I found on those sites. Here’s what’s on my running playlist right now:

I Gotta Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas
So What by Pink
SexyBack by Justin Timberlake
Fat Bottomed Girls by Queen
Keep the Car Running by Arcadia Fire
Back in Black by ACDC
Goodies by Ciara
Work It by Missy Elliott
Houdini by Foster the People
Teenage Dream by Katy Perry
What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction
Hey, Soul Sister by Train
Rosa Parks by Outkast
Stronger by Kelly Clarkson

Do you still sing while you run? Yes, I do. Quite loudly, actually. Tonight I was jammin’ to Fat Bottom Girls as I ran through my neighborhood and some of my neighbors started singing along with me while I ran by! I used to be embarrassed by the singing, but I’ve met lots of my neighbors that way!!!

What kind of training program are you using for your 10k in November? Which 10k are you running? I’m planning to run the Key Largo Bridge Run in the Keys in November. I figure if I’m going to put all this effort in, I’m going to do some FUN races. And what’s more fun than the Keys?!?! I’m using a training program that I found on the Runner’s World website. Here is my schedule (I’m on Week Two this week):

What time of day do you run? I have been getting up at 5:30 and run five or six days a week. But as my distance is increasing, I’m starting to cut back on how often I run to give my body time to rest. I’m really sticking with my training schedule pretty good right now, although on my rest days throughout the work week, I still run 1.5 or 2 miles, just to relieve the stress of the day. If for some reason I have to skip my morning run, I try to go in the evening around 7:00, once the kids are in bed. But I prefer running in the morning. It starts my day off better.

Have you lost weight running? If so, how much? I have lost weight, but I don’t know how much because I don’t own a scale. But I know that I’m down two clothes sizes from where I was two months ago. It makes me feel pretty great, but now I have to buy all new pants because they keep falling off!

(Side note: Today I went running and came home only to have Chris tell me that my skirt had fallen down in the back and my thong was hanging out. I’m pretty sure I ran like that for 3 miles today. No wonder my neighbors were cheering so loud for me.)

One thing that is driving me crazy is that no matter how much weight I lose, I still have a tummy pooch from my baby loves. My 10k training program gives me days to do cross-training, so I think I’m going to start building in some ab work. That’s the only way I can figure to get rid of that pesky pooch.

How do you know what to do since you are a beginning runner? I had no clue what to do when I first started running. I pretty much thought running was just taking off until you thought you were going to die and then stopping. Thankfully, Sarah is very athletic and healthy and she has been running for a while. She occasionally points me towards things I need to be doing differently (like buying real running shoes made for road running and taking rest days so I don’t hurt myself). She also has pointed me towards the Beginners section of the Runner’s World website. That website is gold for a new runner. They teach you pretty much everything you need to know about how to become a runner. I learned about my diet, selecting my shoes, choosing a training program, and how to increase my endurance all through that website. Plus, they have a really great race finder that lets you plan out your races, which give me something to work towards. Otherwise, I learn just by talking to people who run, like other friends, co-workers, and my mother-in-law. I’m really excited to run the Double Bridge Run 15k with her next February!

I am not an athletic person. I never have been. But running doesn’t make me feel athletic. It makes me feel relaxed, happy, and proud of myself. If you’re hesitant about getting up and getting moving, don’t be. I look like a turtle when I run. I shuffle my feet, huff and puff, curse like a sailor running up hills, and sweat like a pig. Last week I asked a little kid who rode by on her bike if she would give me a ride home. Trust me. If I can do this, you can do this.

42 comments | posted in health, Marriage Confessions, Running | tags:

I’m reading this book called “Mile Markers,” by Lance Armstrong’s ex-wife, Kristin Armstrong. She is a runner who has a blog on the Runner’s World website and who has written several books about life through the eyes of a runner. This particular book is about the “26.2 reasons that women run.” Sarah gave it to me to read. I was a little skeptical at first because while I am continuing to run five to six days out of the week, I still wouldn’t call myself a runner and so I felt a little bit like an outsider reading a “runner’s” book. But, as Sarah promised, it isn’t a runner’s book at all. It is more about women and friendship and life, and, I have to say, it is so uplifting to read. Not only does it make me proud of all the running I’ve been doing, but, more importantly, it makes me more aware of the kind of person I want to be.

Actually, running in general has done this for me. In the past few months that I have been getting up early and running, I’ve seen real differences in my life in areas other than my health and waistline. The biggest change I have seen in myself is that I am simplifying my choices. It started as a simple question I’d ask myself at 5:00am when I found myself wide awake in my bed, trying to decide if I was going to get up and go run. I am the Queen of Excuses. I’m pretty sure I’ve held that title since I was little. I can come up with an excuse for anything. But at 5:00am, it’s hard to come up with creative excuses. It really just boiled down to one statement: I could go running, or not. It was as simple as that. I could choose to get up or not. There was no excuse, no reason, no explanation that mattered. I could do it or not.

And so, I’d sigh and grumbled, “Fine!” to myself and I’d get up out of bed and go for a run. Which I never regretted.

Gradually, I stared applying that simple choice to all kinds of things. When presented with cupcakes in the teachers lounge, it became, “I can eat that cupcake or not.” And I walked away without those empty calories.

After flopping into bed one night without taking off my make up and washing my face, it became, “I can wash my face or not.” And I’d get up, wash my face, and sleep better.

When faced with sending a scary email that I had been avoiding for a couple days, it became, “I can send that email or not.” And I cranked out that email in three minutes and it was over.

When I got home from work and school and the kids were crying and I could either put on a movie to entertain them or I could get us all up and moving, it became, “I can either go for a walk or not.” And I loaded the kids up in the wagon and we got out for a while, all feeling better for doing something active rather than sitting on the couch.

When deciding if I was going to go to a meeting after work one day on the other side of town even though I didn’t feel too good, it became, “I can either go or not.” And I went and felt really great for being involved.

When extended an invitation to something that I might normally have not attended, it became, “I can either go or not.” And I ended up going and having a really great time.

When thinking about my Grandma one night this week in the middle of the mad dinner dash at my house, it became, “I can either call her or not.” And I called her, had a sweet conversation, and realized no one was going to die if dinner was a few minutes late.

When standing on one side of a hanging bridge or next to a tiny airplane in Costa Rica, it became, “I can either do this or not.” And I walked across that bridge or up into that airplane and (though I thought I was going to die both times…) I never looked back.

When I felt myself getting really mad at Chris over something this week, it became, “I can pick a fight about that or not.” And I decided to call my sister instead, blow off some steam, and Chris and I ended up having a civil conversation about it later instead of a fight right then.

I know that not all things in life are black and white, yes or no. But after a month or so of boiling things down to a yes or no decision, I haven’t found too many things that can’t be applied to my decision-making statement. I use it to make 95% of the decisions I make these days, and I find that not only am I making better choices, but I am doing a lot more things than I normally would do. I’m more active and more proactive. I complain less and feel guilty less because I know that I’ve made every decision deliberately and intentionally. I am more content and satisfied, even on days when things are crazy busy and hectic. It certainly doesn’t eliminate all my problems or stresses, but it does make me feel more in control of the things I do have a choice in.

I’m finding that life without excuses feels a lot better than a life built on excuses.

21 comments | posted in Changes, health, Marriage Confessions, Operation BWYP, Understanding Katie | tags: decision making, life, running