My triathlon went surprisingly well on Saturday. Last summer I was steadily coming in around the middle of the pack- this year I have moved up a bit closer to the top 1/3. At least I'm improving! When I returned from the race I had the newest issue of USAT magazine waiting in my mailbox. I read a fun article on a couple who are around the ages of my husband and I who are 2012 Olympic hopefuls. They don't have any kids and train for 6 hours a day! Can you imagine training that much every day?!? Wouldn't it be great to have that much time?!?
After thinking about it I realized that I kind of like my diverse, planned to a "T" schedule and I wouldn't trade my home life, great job, church family, and friends and activities for anything. After a bit more reflection it seems that I'm in a very different place from where I was this time last year. Perhaps it's because my kids are a little older and more self sufficient or maybe it's because all the organizational tactics I've implemented over the year have been effective. While those are possibilities, I'm most inclined to believe that it's as simple as I just "got used to things".
It took a while for me to recover from our failed attempt to move closer to family - the first year I was disappointed, grumpy, and sensitive. The disappointment, grumpiness, and sensitivity slowly dissipated over the last year to where the sting is gone and relocating is no longer even on my radar. As each year passes, the southwest becomes more and more our home. When I returned from San Antonio last week, I sighed with relief upon seeing the expansive skies, and feeling the warm dry air.
Likewise, I have fallen into a good work/home routine - my current balance is working well. I am able to reach my goals at work while still spending plenty of time with the kids. The kids are doing great and now that my youngest is a bit older, it's easier for the 5 of us to do fun things as a family on weekends and in the evenings. I know that will only get easier over time.
Our home routine has gotten easier as well. We eat dinner as a family every night and I'm thrilled that our menu is becoming more and more diverse as the kids get older. Swim practice ended today with the banquet next week. The kids had a great time! My son made some amazing progress going from refusing to put his face in the water at the beginning of June to swimming freestyle. Can't wait to see what next summer will bring! In the meantime, there is soccer, dance, a new school year, and a delightful fall & winter to anticipate. :)
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Odd and Ends
It's been a while since I posted. Since returning from Hawaii, time has literally flown! Less than a week after returning from the Aloha state, I packed up and headed to San Antonio for a conference. I was invited to give a talk there and also was presenting a poster with a colleague. It was a great excuse to go shopping since I needed a suit in which to present and a fabulous dress in which to attend the Dean's dinner. :) The meeting was WONDERFUL! My presentations went well and I ran into lots of colleagues and professors from North Carolina. Even at the age of 34 it is still so heart warming when someone who taught you smiles and says, "I am so proud of you". Friends from my graduating class are scattered across the states and it was a blast catching up with them and learning what they are doing.
On a sad note, my grandfather passed away while I was at the meeting. My father called at 6AM the morning of my talk. I was already up and nervously getting ready when I heard the news. My grandfather was a neat person - he was a physician, husband, father of three, grandfather, and a great grandfather. He was 94 years old when he died and had been blessed with a good long life. Unfortunately, I was in San Antonio without my passport and was unable to get from there back home to get my passport and then to Canada where he was living. Therefore, I missed the funeral, and as Forest Gump would say, "That's all I have to say about that."
Swimming is still going strong at our house (picture below). The kids have two weeks left. As swimming is winding down, school excitement is building. I am so excited for my oldest to start kindergarten in the fall and about the teachers my younger two are going to have this year! Each new year brings exciting changes and new challenges and I look forward to what lies ahead!
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As for me, I have a triathlon this weekend. I don't feel ready because of all the traveling I have been doing, Oh well - I suppose I'll find out tomorrow... :)
On a sad note, my grandfather passed away while I was at the meeting. My father called at 6AM the morning of my talk. I was already up and nervously getting ready when I heard the news. My grandfather was a neat person - he was a physician, husband, father of three, grandfather, and a great grandfather. He was 94 years old when he died and had been blessed with a good long life. Unfortunately, I was in San Antonio without my passport and was unable to get from there back home to get my passport and then to Canada where he was living. Therefore, I missed the funeral, and as Forest Gump would say, "That's all I have to say about that."
Swimming is still going strong at our house (picture below). The kids have two weeks left. As swimming is winding down, school excitement is building. I am so excited for my oldest to start kindergarten in the fall and about the teachers my younger two are going to have this year! Each new year brings exciting changes and new challenges and I look forward to what lies ahead!
Monday, July 4, 2011
Aloha!
My husband and I just returned from a week long vacation to Hawaii - yes, that's right...just the two of us!!! My husband had a work meeting in Honolulu and I decided to tag along. My in-laws graciously agreed to keep the kids and we are so very thankful to them for that! It was a blast! We swam, snorkeled, hiked, kayaked, and explored to our hearts' content. Below are some pictures from our trip. Thank you so much Grammy & Papa for making this possible!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Endocrinologist
We took my son to the pediatric endocrinologist yesterday to be evaluated for falling off his growth curve. It was a good visit and I am glad we took him to see her. While my son is very tiny, he is also very healthy overall which is something about which she commented. She noticed something that I had not when looking at his growth curves - his weight actually fell off before his height did. This might be an indication that his growth issues have a nutritional component. What exactly that means is unclear because calorically he consumes as many if not more than his sister who has no growth issues. Therefore, his problem may be types of calories rather than amount - meaning he's not getting enough protein & fat in his diet (this would make sense since my son prefers grains, fruits, & veggies to protein/higher fat foods).
She examined my son, talked to us and gathered information, and then sent him for some bloodwork to check growth hormone levels, nutritional deficiencies, and GI disorders (namely celiac disease). Her gut feeling after examining him was that everything would be normal. She referred us to a nutritionist and our appointment with her is later in the summer. We won't get the results back for a couple of weeks.
While I am thrilled that we are going to get some answers, I felt pretty down last evening after the appointment. There is nothing like someone telling you that your kid is too skinny to make you feel like you're doing something wrong as a mother. During dinner, I found myself scrutinizing every morsel of food he put in his mouth and started getting anxious when he gobbled up the fruit/veggies and left the chicken...I even ended up bargaining with him and saying that if he ate all his chicken he could have a treat (which is food no-no #1!!).
I need to spend some time in prayer and thought over the next few weeks. Since my husband and I leave for Hawaii tomorrow (without the kids - hooray!), I'll have some time to do this - in addition to kayaking, hiking, surfing lessons and snorkeling, of course! :) Most people when they look at the activities my husband and I plan on our vacations wonder how we can call it a vacation since our schedule is usually chock full. We're not "lay by the pool and read" kind of folks (although we do have one afternoon on this trip scheduled for that). Aloha!
She examined my son, talked to us and gathered information, and then sent him for some bloodwork to check growth hormone levels, nutritional deficiencies, and GI disorders (namely celiac disease). Her gut feeling after examining him was that everything would be normal. She referred us to a nutritionist and our appointment with her is later in the summer. We won't get the results back for a couple of weeks.
While I am thrilled that we are going to get some answers, I felt pretty down last evening after the appointment. There is nothing like someone telling you that your kid is too skinny to make you feel like you're doing something wrong as a mother. During dinner, I found myself scrutinizing every morsel of food he put in his mouth and started getting anxious when he gobbled up the fruit/veggies and left the chicken...I even ended up bargaining with him and saying that if he ate all his chicken he could have a treat (which is food no-no #1!!).
I need to spend some time in prayer and thought over the next few weeks. Since my husband and I leave for Hawaii tomorrow (without the kids - hooray!), I'll have some time to do this - in addition to kayaking, hiking, surfing lessons and snorkeling, of course! :) Most people when they look at the activities my husband and I plan on our vacations wonder how we can call it a vacation since our schedule is usually chock full. We're not "lay by the pool and read" kind of folks (although we do have one afternoon on this trip scheduled for that). Aloha!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
USDA Dietary Guidelines and MyPlate
I'm going to put on my healthcare worker hat for this short post. The USDA updated the dietary guidelines in 2010 and launched the MyPlate initiative this month. I am excited about MyPlate which has replaced the old food pyramid. Ever since I was in pharmacy school and started reading a lot on nutrition and health (for my own personal benefit) I have thought that the food pyramid did not represent the best mechanism for healthy eating. It got a little better when it was updated, but was not very easy to explain to patients or to practice. After all, what exactly is a serving??? The plate is a much easier tool to explain and to use. I have put the links below for anyone interested. Happy Eating!
http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/DietaryGuidelines.htm
http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/MyPlate.htm
http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/DietaryGuidelines.htm
http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/MyPlate.htm
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Celebrating Individuality
It is amazing how different my children are from each other in personality, likes, skills, and temperament. Reading 1 Peter 4:10-11, I was reminded this week that each of my precious children has been given a specific personality and set of talents by our Maker. God has a wonderful plan for each of them and as their mom, I should strive to nurture and appreciate each child's talents and tailor my parenting to their individual traits.
Last year I was one of the helpers in my oldest son's pre-K Sunday School class and this year I am serving in this role for my daughter's class. My oldest son is almost always comfortable in his surroundings and is rarely intimidated by new people or new situations. On the other hand, my daughter is quite a bit more cautious. She has been in the pre-K class for 3 weeks and is just now starting to come out of her shell. Until recently I was a little concerned about how little she participated compared to her brother. What I have come to realize is that in actuality, she is perfectly fine - it's me that sometimes doesn't do a good job of navigating the differences between her and her brother. Rather than appreciating and accepting that she is more cautious, I kept trying to "help" her act more like her brother because that's what I was used to.
Despite being slower to warm up to new situations, my daughter is great at focusing for longer periods of time and completing tasks quickly and accurately. My mommy goal this week to to take some extra time to appreciate the individuality of each of my three kids' and to adapt my parenting to see what works best for each child's personality and temperament.
Last year I was one of the helpers in my oldest son's pre-K Sunday School class and this year I am serving in this role for my daughter's class. My oldest son is almost always comfortable in his surroundings and is rarely intimidated by new people or new situations. On the other hand, my daughter is quite a bit more cautious. She has been in the pre-K class for 3 weeks and is just now starting to come out of her shell. Until recently I was a little concerned about how little she participated compared to her brother. What I have come to realize is that in actuality, she is perfectly fine - it's me that sometimes doesn't do a good job of navigating the differences between her and her brother. Rather than appreciating and accepting that she is more cautious, I kept trying to "help" her act more like her brother because that's what I was used to.
Despite being slower to warm up to new situations, my daughter is great at focusing for longer periods of time and completing tasks quickly and accurately. My mommy goal this week to to take some extra time to appreciate the individuality of each of my three kids' and to adapt my parenting to see what works best for each child's personality and temperament.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Mommy & Big Kids Time
My husband had a business trip close to where the grandparents live so he took our youngest with him. My baby doesn't turn 2 until September so we have a few more months to capitalize on him flying as a lap child instead of buying him a seat.
While I miss my youngest very much, I have had a WONDERFUL time with my older two kids. We ran errands on Sunday after church, Monday we had fun day of swimming followed by a matinee movie. Yesterday my daughter stayed home from swimming and school b/c she had a low grade fever, but she perked up enough by the end of the day for us to attend family night at Chick Fil A. Here they are with their fake beards and blue & blingy fingers.
Not only do my husband and youngest fly home today but my parents also arrive! We will have a fun few days with them and then it will be time to get ready for our trip to Hawaii!
As an update on activities, my oldest is progressing right along with his swimming. Yesterday, they worked on backstroke and he is doing a great job! My Olympic triathlon is back on and I have found a few sprint ones to do in July and August to prepare for it. On Saturday my husband and I rode 27 miles and I'm running between 6-7 on my weekly long runs and will start working that mileage up in July. I'm swimming once a week with the masters team at our club. I absolutely love the tri sport - I just feel so overall strong and healthy when I'm training for them because the 3 sports really compliment each other well.
With this race, I'm working on figuring out training nutrition and specifically focusing one what types of calories I consume during exercise and in what form. What I have been doing so far, and it has worked okay is to eat something small and dense about 30 mins prior to exercising (I usually eat a handful of almonds), and then consuming a power gel or chomp every hour thereafter. I noticed during my last half marathon that I tuckered out toward the end and I think a lot of that was due to poor nutrition during the race. I want to prevent that from happening again.
Since I'm eating like a horse with all this training I'm quite the connoisseur of summer treats. If anyone wants a delicious summer treat, I highly recommend the Chick Fil A banana pudding milkshake! It's wonderful! On Friday after swimming with the kids at the pool I picked up Chick Fil A for dinner and decided to try that flavor - I meant to share it with my husband but had drunk it all up before he could even have a sip. SO YUMMY!
While I miss my youngest very much, I have had a WONDERFUL time with my older two kids. We ran errands on Sunday after church, Monday we had fun day of swimming followed by a matinee movie. Yesterday my daughter stayed home from swimming and school b/c she had a low grade fever, but she perked up enough by the end of the day for us to attend family night at Chick Fil A. Here they are with their fake beards and blue & blingy fingers.
Not only do my husband and youngest fly home today but my parents also arrive! We will have a fun few days with them and then it will be time to get ready for our trip to Hawaii!
As an update on activities, my oldest is progressing right along with his swimming. Yesterday, they worked on backstroke and he is doing a great job! My Olympic triathlon is back on and I have found a few sprint ones to do in July and August to prepare for it. On Saturday my husband and I rode 27 miles and I'm running between 6-7 on my weekly long runs and will start working that mileage up in July. I'm swimming once a week with the masters team at our club. I absolutely love the tri sport - I just feel so overall strong and healthy when I'm training for them because the 3 sports really compliment each other well.
With this race, I'm working on figuring out training nutrition and specifically focusing one what types of calories I consume during exercise and in what form. What I have been doing so far, and it has worked okay is to eat something small and dense about 30 mins prior to exercising (I usually eat a handful of almonds), and then consuming a power gel or chomp every hour thereafter. I noticed during my last half marathon that I tuckered out toward the end and I think a lot of that was due to poor nutrition during the race. I want to prevent that from happening again.
Since I'm eating like a horse with all this training I'm quite the connoisseur of summer treats. If anyone wants a delicious summer treat, I highly recommend the Chick Fil A banana pudding milkshake! It's wonderful! On Friday after swimming with the kids at the pool I picked up Chick Fil A for dinner and decided to try that flavor - I meant to share it with my husband but had drunk it all up before he could even have a sip. SO YUMMY!
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