My Week in Photos

Goodbye Kicks
When I like a brand or in this case a specific shoe line, I kind of go overboard. Yeah, I'm the kind of person who finds a perfect fitting shirt and buys three of them, in different colors.

Well, these shoes served me well, but it was finally time to say goodbye. They've officially been replaced.

Gas Prices, We See You
In the past few weeks, gas prices have steadily increased, like we wouldn't notice. We notice!!!!!
In related news, this makes me feel better (see the picture below) about replacing my SUV with a fuel efficient vehicle. However, my in town gas mileage is more like 24-32 mpg. Makes me wonder about the in town mpg, I was getting on the ELEMENT.

For the First Time, Since I Started Working --
...Dakota woke up in the middle of the night. Well, first I should back track and mention she went to bed at her typical 8:30-9 pm bedtime, but then she woke up to eat around 10 pm. I thought that was odd and THEN she woke up again at 1 am. Trey heard her crying so he walked to the nursery and then brought her to our room. I fed her, in bed and we both dozed off. I wan't sure if I was in for a rough night, with a fussy baby, so I put her in the pack in play right next to the bed. But nothing, she was fine and slept the rest of the night. I even got up at my normal time, to run.

This picture was taken early this week.  I can get all paparazzi with my camera, but 1 am photo taking is a little too much, even for me. 

There's a Little Truth, Behind Every E-Card
This is my thought process, right here.
I plan on running some miles over this weekend. I'm not sure how far I want to go. At this point, I like not being committed to a specific distance, that way I can bail early, if I need to.

I need more of this in my life

 TRAIL RUNNING!

That's the stick I used to ward off pesky spider webs. When other people see me on the trail, they either understand why I carry a stick or they think I'm crazy. People, it's not a weapon, it's protection!

This past weekend, I woke up early -- all excited to run, but I had to wait for the sun. Trail running in the dark, would freak me out. Trey was onboard for being on daddy duty, in case the girls woke up, while I was gone. Chey is super easy in the mornings. Give her cartoons, milk, and dry cereal and she's your best friend. Dakota on the other hand, requires more of a hands on approach. I had saved a bottle of BM for her, in case she woke up while I was gone.

About the trail....
I've missed it and I can't wait to get out there again. I ran 8 slow miles. It was drizzling and it was cool. I kept thinking, the flood gates were going to open, but that was not the case.

This trail run, was my first long run since having baby Dakota, 12 weeks ago.

Finding Motivation to Run

Lately, I've been lacking motivation. That voice:
"This is going to be hard. You don't have to do this."

Both times, I just hit go on the treadmill and I GOOO. Yes, it's hard, but afterwards, I feel so good. I think my biggest thing is to continue to make it a habit, like I had been doing before I had Dakota.. Right now, I don't have a training schedule, but my goal is to workout several days of the week, even if I can't run because it's a recovery day or whatever the case, I want to aim for at least a walk, stretch, something....

I went online and went to the be all -- end all -- of inspiration land, Pinterest. How do you find motivation to workout, when you're not feeling it? If you are lacking in the exercise motivational department, maybe these images will help, get you out of that rut.

I have 2 kids, a full time job and a life -- We're all busy.

Source: homemadecosmetics.blogspot.ca via Dominique on Pinterest

I thought this was funny. I love doing fartleks, I just don't want to start doing them too soon. I'm going to continue to build my base miles and then slowly introduce some fartlek workouts back into my training.

Source: fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net via Dominique on Pinterest

Source: sweetseas.blogspot.com via Dominique on Pinterest

Scratch out pie and insert warm chocolate chip cookies. 

Source: google.com.au via Busy on Pinterest

A Different Kind of Pace & Helping Hands

Well, it looks like I was wrong, this broken collarbone has really slowed down Cheyenne. This is where she's been all morning and afternoon... Dakota has not. :)

Trey has been so helpful today. He took the day off, to help me with Cheyenne.
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I'm going to miss my helping hands. Cheyenne was just starting to help me out with Dakota. Last week, she even fed Dakota, while I packed lunches.

In a previous post I had mentioned feeding Dakota a bottle, every morning. The reason I do this is because I've found that if I pump first thing in the morning, when I'm the most "full", it's the best way to stay ahead. I would hate it if I couldn't keep up with her demand. I feed her 5 ounces and I freeze the other 5. <----- Working mommy solution.

Broken Clavicle

Last night, at 2 am, Cheyenne fell off of her toddler size bed. She was hysterical. At first, I thought she was in shock, but the more time passed, the more I realized, she wasn't in shock, she wasn't exaggerating the pain, and something terrible was wrong. We gave her several doses of pain reliever, but she still wouldn't move her right arm/shoulder. She refused to let Trey or I touch her arm. If we would reach to touch it, she'd beg us not to. "No, momma/daddy, noooooooo!"

I talked to the on-call pedi nurse and she said to take her to ER and in the meantime, ice the area and use a scarf to make a homemade sling.




After a few x-rays, it was determined she broke her clavicle bone, also known as the collarbone.

She'll have to wear a sling for 4-6 weeks. The only time she doesn't have to wear it, is when she's sleeping and bathing.

We are thankful it was only a broken clavicle and nothing more. Something tells me, this won't slow her down, one bit.

In case you are wondering what Dakota's thinks about all of this, she slept through the entire 2 am screaming fest, Chey had. While Chey and Trey were at the hospital, bonnet baby and I went to church. After church, she had a diaper blowout. I was all like, SAVE THE CUTE OUTFIT! I stripped that girl in no time.

My Week in Photos

Since she loved her mobile so much, Trey went out and bought her a fancy one. We were all impressed because it came with a remote control. It doesn't take much to impress us.
She loved the mobile. LOVED> LOVED>LOVED IT! She was waving her arms and legs with excitement. I put her to bed at 8:30 pm and when I check on her 30 minutes later, she was still awake, admiring it. Thank goodness it has a timer, otherwise she'd be watching the animals all night like it was a movie.

In case you can't make out who you're looking at, it's yours truly and Cheyenne. My front facing camera is always dirty. I blame it on my case. I feel like I got a new phone because I recently cleaned my phone case. #thrifty

Sweet Cheeks!

This is my typical morning hydration. I start consuming these fluids at 6 am - and by 9 am, I'm done and I start to refill my water.
This is the order:
1. Recovery Shake - Supposedly it helps with muscle recovery. I drink it within an hour of working out, which is important. Honestly, I don't care what it does, all I know is that it taste like a chocolate milkshake.
2. Coffee - You guys, I've been consuming 12-14 ounces of caffeine most mornings (I'll occasionally drink decaf too). I know I said I was going to do decaf for at least a year, BUTTTTTT the caffeine doesn't seem to phase Dakota. #DreamBaby

Not exactly, this week in photos, since this is from last week....
Last Friday, I did some freelance work. A faculty asked me to take a photo of her and her husband. He is a pastor and they wanted a picture to put on their website. I said sure. I didn't charge them much, (Depending on the request, I don't usually charge if it's church related, but if I do charge, my rates are super affordable). For this job, I made enough to take my family out for dinner. My treat!

This is me with utilizing the camera timer. You do what you gotta do, when you don't have people around willing to help you set lights and exposure.

You guys have a wonderful weekend!

Fascinated with a Mobile & I Really Had Twins

Babies, don't play or really do much of anything -- they just lay around cooing and looking adorable. So, when Dakota started showing interest in her baby mobile, I had to capture the moment.
This girl, does not like to be covered. When I put her down for the night, I don't even bother giving her a blanket. She's been kicking blankets off since she was 4 weeks old (at least). I put a burp rag under her, so in case she spits up -- I don't have to change the bedding.

A little video
 And here are a few pictures when Cheyenne started showing interest in a mobile.
I promise, these two photos are Chey, not Dakota. They look so much alike! I KNOW! When I look at Dakota, I feel like, I've traveled back in time. It's like I had twins, but there was a 4 year gap...

Spreading My Love, Equally

I think parents, who have more than one child, can relate to this post.

One thing I want to do is make sure both of my girls feel loved. I don't want them to feel like one of them gets more attention than the other. This is something that, at times, I over think. I'll tell one of them, I love you and then I feel like, I MUST IMMEDIATELY TELL THE OTHER ONE TOO! I even catch Trey doing this too. It's not a bad thing, it's just us as parents, doing our best to make our kids feel loved and not feeling overlooked.

Even taking photos and capturing video of the girls, at times, I feel guilty. Dakota is 2 months and I know I haven't shot nearly as many video clips of her, as I did with Chey and that bothers me! I want Dakota to look back and see that she was admired and loved, just the same. I don't want to use the excuse that I have less time ---- but really -- how time consuming is it to grab a camera and hit record?

Friends, Parents, I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.

With that being said, here are several video clips of Dakota and Chey.
I like how Dakota is talking while Chey is reading.

What's Her Name?

I Have an Entire Collection of Nike LunarGlides

Did you participate in tax-free weekend. I did! My shopping experience only took a few minutes, since I shopped online. I'm a busy woman these days, so this was a real time-saver.

I'm a big fan of Nike's LunarGlide shoe line. The latest is +4, so I found these black shoes on sale, since they are an older model. These snazzy sneakers are +3's.

I have, no joke, 3 pairs of LunarGlide's in my closet. I think it's time to say goodbye.

Now, that I have new shoes, I'm so ready to get my run on --- even if it's only a few miles at a time.

Running Postpartum, My Slow Comeback

Today, I read the most amazing Runner's World Article:
The Truth About Running, Motherhood, and Life After Pregnancy.
The article inspired me to share my experience.

I'm Frustrated
Returning back to running is hard!
It hurts, I feel out of shape. I feel slow. I hurt. I feel bruised after running 1 mile.
I've returned back to the drawing board; I'm a beginner, which seems unfair.
It's not that I make myself run slow, I have to run slow.
I run 11 - 15 minute miles. Before I would run 10 minute leisure miles.
I feel embarrassed, I can't just pick up, where I left off before I was pregnant.
I feel guilty for running, for taking time away from my family, my house work or just resting.
The hardest thing is comparing the new me, to the old me.

Here is my training from last week. Now, I'm trying (I'm really trying) to focus on the positives. I'm healthy enough to run. No matter what my speed and distance is, I'm doing something I love and that should count for something.


The below stats are from my ultra marathon training days. Getting back to that point is going to be a long and hard journey. In one year, I'd like to be back to this!

Challenge Accepted! 

Day Trip to Abilene

Now, that we have a fuel efficient vehicle, it's easier to justify taking a day trip to Abilene. Friday, was Frank's birthday and yesterday was Trey's mom's birthday, so we decided to make the drive to A-town to celebrate.

Dakota thought it was her party, she enjoyed being passed around and held.

We celebrated at Mr. Gattis Pizza. I love their salad bar, so I was down to party at Gattis!

Trey tried snapping a photo of Frank, while he was helping Jomi blow out the candles, but he wasn't fast enough.

It was great visiting with family, even it was only for a few hours.

My Week in Photos

New Running Trail - YES!
Look what I found, a new paved running trail! It's a few miles from home, so I'm sure when the weather cools off and I'm running more miles, I can include this in my running route. I ran one mile and Cheyenne joined me for about .25 of that. She's fast, seriously. Especially since I was recovering from my running injury when we went.
    
When I'm running in and out (from my home, to another point -- then turning back around to head back home), I like it when I can include an amazing pay off view, whether it be a lake, a scenic park, or hills, like this...

More Proof, I'm Addicted to Water: 
I am so excited about my $2.98 gallon size pitcher purchase. The water pressure line coming out of the fridge is ridiculously slow. Add that to Trey's honey-do list. Although, it takes nearly 4 minutes to fill this baby up, I'd rather stand there once, for that time, in one day, then run back and forth every time I need to fill my 32 oz bottle.

Grow Baby Grow: 
This is why I have a 2 month old, that looks like a 4 month old...she's ALAWYS eating. You're probably wondering why I'm feeding her from a bottle, I'll explain in another post, at another time. She's still exclusively nursing, but yeah -- I have a method here --

P.S. I finally have a working laptop in my hands!!!! FINALLY! Now, blogging will be more convenient for me.

Goodnight, My Sweet Girls

Covering Up the Ta-Ta's

Last night, Dakota was fussing, I knew she wasn't hungry and her diaper was dry ---- so I took her clothes off and put her on my skin...I walked once around the kitchen island and she was happy again.

She's rarely fussy and the only reason, I think she was upset was because her legs might've been sore from the shots she received on Monday. I know my body feels sore for several days after I receive shots. Trey went to the drugstore, but by the time he made it home with the medicine, she was already passed out for the night. She slept her usual weekday schedule, 8 (ish) pm to 6 am.

She's still sleeping like a champ and no fussy moments -- other than this one. She makes me want to have about 6 more chubby babies. Umm, wait a second, maybe not.

I was strategically placing my hands on her to cover her ta-ta's, after all she is a little lady.

We love her so much. Thanks to Cheyenne for capturing these sweet moments. She's quite the photographer.

I'll leave you with this picture of Trey "pretending" to fart. Again, Chey captured this moment too.

Photographer & Model -- Well, "Model" is a Long Shot

When no one is around to help me set my exposure and lights, I have to run back and forth...and play photographer //// (slash) //// model subject.

I'm quite impressed that I'm in focus.

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Times Ten Cellar 
Saturday, Isis with EnduraLAB organized a ladies night out. About 10 of us had dinner in the West 7th area and then walked to a wine bar called Times Ten Cellar. I loved hanging out with the ladies, but if you are looking for date night ideas, you've gotta try this place. The atmosphere is super romantic.

What is your favorite wine? I had a glass of malbec, but my favorite is Moscato.
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MacBook Pro Update:

My electronic baby is finally ready to come home! I'm so glad I took my co-workers advice and backed everything up before I sent it to IT for the encryption. It was in the hands of the IT department, when the hard drive fried. They don't repair computers, so I had to take my laptop to Apple. The hard drive replacement was almost $300, but since it's still under warranty, the fee was waived.

A Wink and a Smile AND Tears

Today, was Dakota's 8 week wellness check-up. She was all smiles....
But three shots later, she was hysterical. I wanted to cry with her.


She weighs 12 lbs and she is in the 85 percentile. Chub-Chub. Below is a snapshot comparison between Dakota and Cheyenne. The top row is Dakota and the other two are Cheyenne's measurements.


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PS
My laptop is still being repaired, so if this post looks funky, it's because I'm blogging from my phone. I hope I get my laptop, tomorrow.