Is she really complaining?

I better start out this post by apologizing to all the new moms out there (Elise! Molly! Ana! etc). I mean Mother of 2 week old Kellan would look at me today - Mother of 4+ month old Kellan and laugh that I have the audaciity to complain. But things in the present are HARD and things that have already happened don't seem that bad haha.

So let me get the meat of my complaint. Sleep! Kellan has had a few rough nights. He had been sleeping pretty well only waking up once a night for a dream type feed and back to bed. I was dancing in sugar plums! Or something like that - you'll have to excuse my sleep deprived mind. Two nights ago my dear son was up several times in the night and then decided it was time to get up for good at 4:45am. FOUR... FORTY FIVE. In the AY EM! Luckily Pete came down at 5:45am and I was able to go back to bed at 6am for a little more shut eye before the day started. Last night Kellan woke up at 9:45pm - talked to himself in his crib and fell back asleep. H was up again at 11:30pm and before I even peeled myself out of bed I knew it was going to be a tough night because 11:30pm is way too early for his first wake up time. He ate and then had really bad gas - poor kiddo. Pete came down to the sound of cries around 12:15am and we stood listening to Pink Floyd in Kellan's nursery rocking him and kissing his face and staring at each other silently knowing we were in for a long haul of a night. He finally fell back asleep at 1am. But alas he was up again at 3:30am. Ha! Of course he was. Why would he want to sleep for more than 2.5 hours? That would be just SILLY! He was up until 4:30am and crashed from what I can only assume was pure exhaustion.

Needless to say we were a tired bunch this morning. I know this will pass and so I don't let myself get too upset by all of it. And that kiddo is just too cute to ever be mad at.

Up all night? WHO ME?? NAH!!!

To top off the morning when we pulled into the parking ramp at work I realized I had forgotten my gym clothes. Likely on the kitchen floor. Awesome. 

Luckily I was able to borrow a sports bra from someone at work. Go ahead judge me. I really wanted to workout. Because you know what cures a night of no sleep?!? A HIIT workout!! Right? Especially when you are wearing a borrowed sports bra and long sleeves indoors because it's the only thing you could scrounge out of your locker. 

Tuesday's Workout - HIIT and a Circuit

HIIT Intervals = 1:50 minutes @ between 6.1 - 6.5, then 1:10 minutes @ 10.0 - 8 Intervals

Distance: 3.18 miles

Time: 24:00

Pace: 7:43/mile

Circuit: 

10 lb weighted side hypers - 15 reps

Medicine Ball Knee Ups - 1 minute

Elevated Bench Dips - 15 Reps

15 lb Arm Curls - 12 Reps 

Repeat the Circuit 3 times. 

And just to be consistent I did get in a workout on Monday: 

Monday's workout: 

Workout: Treadmill Run

Distance: 4 miles

Time: 32:12

Pace: 8:04/mile

One more work day and then we're all off for the weekend. We have a jam packed schedule but we're looking forward to some quality time with our families and to celebrate Kellan's first Thanksgiving. Not that he cares. He'll enjoy the time with all his grandparents and aunts and uncle though!

Weekend before Thanksgiving

Hello - Happy Monday. I am actually typing this Sunday night but I will wait to post it until Monday morning when normal people are awake. :)

Before I start in on the weekend: Friday's workout

Workout: Treadmill Run
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 32:32
Pace: 8:08/mile

I had a good run and some friendly competition on the treadmill next to me to motivate me to get in a good run. I was happy to get in my third run of the week (per my goal - you all remember) before the weekend started.

Friday night we made a new recipe out of Cooking Light - Minestrone with spicy turkey sausage and chickpeas. It was a relatively easy recipe to make. The flavors were awesome. We will definitely be making this soup again. I forgot to take a picture - so I'm stealing one from the internet :) This is exactly what it turned out like though, except we paired ours with a big old Wheat Bun from Breadsmith - amazing! 

Saturday we cleaned the house and installed some new stuff - like a new Fox Hook for K's room. We started to decorate for Christmas even though I know it's silly to start so early. I literally could not help myself. We put up the outdoor lights - although we won't turn them on until Friday. And I put up some decorations inside. We'll put up the tree on Sunday. 

Sunday morning we put together a slow cooker recipe - also from Cooking Light magazine - Cuban Pulled Pork with Rice and Beans. It took us about 45 minutes to put together. It was a fun new recipe with a few interesting mixtures that I would have never thought of. 

While that cooked on low for 8 hours, we had Tom and Elise come over to watch the Vikings vs. Packers game. Luckily for us their cable went out on Saturday night and they asked to come over. It was an improptu get together - and we loved every minute of it. 

Just a couple of dads with their kiddos :) Boy how our lives have changed in the last year.

After they left we hung out for awhile and prepped the last parts of the slow cooker recipe. We made some rice and put together the fresh salsa that goes on top. The meal was AMAZING. We will be making this again and luckily for us the recipe made a ton. We'll eat it for dinner again tonight and then freeze some for some future meals. 

I am definitely planning on hitting the gym today. I am hoping to get down there all three work days this week. Otherwise I'll have to run over to the LA Fitness by our house on Friday to get in a run. We have crazy Thanksgiving plans. Thursday with Pete's mom, Friday with Pete's dad and Saturday with my mom and stepdad. Whew. Looking forward to quality time with the families though and probably some amazing food. 

Is anyone lucky enough to be going out of town somewhere fun over the Thanksgiving holiday?

Here's the recipe for the Pork if anyone is interested. Warning that it makes a lot!

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/pork-shoulder-beans-rice-50400000131785/

No workouts, Snuggles and Dinner

I haven't had time to workout the past few days. It's ok, I don't need to work out every day. I'm just too dang busy with work and life right now for working out. :(

Wednesday was a good day with K. We had his appt and he did a great job. He's growing up nicely and is still up there in the 75-80%. He weighed in at 16.5 lbs. Go Kiddo Go! I gave him Infant's Tylenol BEFORE his shots this time and that seemed to help. He was a quiet and tired boy that night, but not too cranky... UNTIL... 7pm. He would NOT go down for his usual 6:30pm nap. I had to put him in the Boba (baby carrier) and dance with him in the kitchen until he fell asleep. He just really needed some extra cuddles. He didn't seem to want to go to bed at 9pm either and then he was up a lot in the night, very restless and feeling not great. Poor Goose.

Extra Snuggles with Mom:

Wednesday night Pete and I made a fun dinner though! We made Lamb and Red Pepper Pita Sandwiches from Cooking Light magazine. They were super yummy although I'm not used to eating red meat so my tummy was definitely chewing on those for a little while. The flavors you mix up in the food processor to put into the meat were really tasty! Here's the recipe we used and a picture of the results.
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/lamb-pepper-pita-sandwiches-50400000131742/

Last night my mom came over for a little time with K and we had dinner together. I whipped up a batch of quinoa and I bought a rotisserie chicken. I also got a green pepper and some carrots to dip in hummus. An easy but delicious dinner plan. K loved the time with his GMa. 

Like I've been mentioning I'm swamped at work, the other night I was holding K with one arm and testing emails with the other. That's definitely not quality time with my boy, but sometimes work deadlines loom.

That's all for now.  Hopefully I can sneak down to the gym at lunch today for a treadmill run or at least a quick lifting session. We'll see!

Any fun plans this weekend?!?! Feel free to leave comments here on the ole Blog.

What I eat

It's my day off with K today. I've already cleaned the bathroom, showered, fed K, thrown in laundry and started cleaning the kitchen. Ha. We have a lot planned for today. We're starting out the morning by bringing breakfast and coffee to Elise and Eva. I love being able to go visit them on her maternity leave. It can be kind of lonely so having friends to pop in make all the difference. Then it's K's 4 month appt today - I can't wait to see how big he's measuring. I'm not looking forward to his shots though. Poor kiddo. After his appointment we have pest control coming to spray for spiders - they tend to come inside when it gets cold out. And finally I have a few new recipes I mention at the bottom of this post that I need to get groceries for. Whew.

Tuesdays run was pretty good. I decided to run outside because the temps were supposed to be in the low 40s. I decided to wear my capris instead of my full running leggings. Brrrr. I am not hardcore enough for that. It was really windy so I was chilly. The thing about a cold run is that it makes you run faster. Running faster means not only are you warmer, but you'll be back inside SOONER.

Workout: Outdoor Run

Distance: 4 miles

Time/Pace: I don't know. When I run outside I typically run "naked" - meaning I run without a watch. I ran the first mile at whatever felt comfortable as I warmed up (literally) and got into the groove of the run. The next two plus miles I kicked up my pace and made sure that I didn't feel "comfortable" and was breathing heavier. Then for the last 3/4 of a mile I kicked it up as fast as I could without getting a side ache. I felt good and I know I had a good pace. I can tell that I worked my leg muscles and I'm a little sore. Run success!

So let's talk about food a little bit. I burn a lot of calories. Feeding K burns about 500 calories every day and my workouts typically burn between 300 - 500 calories on the days I work out. I eat pretty healthily. That doesn't mean I'm on a diet - because I'm NOT. I just don't like to put things into my body that aren't good for it. Things like aspartame, excessive sugar, caffeine, and artificial packaged stuff. I like to eat foods that are good for me so I might skip that chocolate cake, and instead have two servings of chicken. Ha. BORING. But it's true. Food is fuel. That doesn't mean I don't have a stash of Halloween candy at my desk that I break into every single day. Sugar is good. It tastes good and it's a good pick me up. I just like to eat it in moderation. Because I'm burning so many calories right now I need lots of snacks available to me. I can't eat dairy right now because K isn't processing dairy well. This has limited the kinds of snacks, meals and desserts I can have. I eat a lot of fruit - apples are in season right now. I eat granola bars and hummus with pretzels and/or carrots. I've been going to Breadsmith to get their cinnamon buns and their brownies. They are a kosher bakery and they don't use dairy. SCORE! Plus their stuff tastes amazing! 

I've been making banana oat muffins a lot lately. I think they taste really good and they are pretty dang healthy too. I made some modifications to the original recipe to sub in some wheat flour and to use applesauce instead of oil. If you make them I am sure they'll be a hit. I'll post the recipe at the end of this post. 

I got my Cooking Light magazine in the mail this week. I LOVE getting easy recipes out of that magazine. Here are a few I'm planning to make this week - I'll try to post pictures as we make them. 

- Chickpea and Sausage Minestrone

- Lamb and Red Pepper Pita Sandwiches - with brown rice on the side

- Cuban Pork Shoulder with Beans and Rice (slow cooker recipe)

And without further ado - here are the muffins. 

Banana Oat Muffins - makes 12 muffins: 

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour - you can use all white flour if you don't have wheat flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup milk - I use almond milk 
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil - I use applesauce
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed bananas - use a really ripe banana

Directions

1.     Combine flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt.

2.     In a large bowl, beat the egg lightly. Stir in the milk, oil, and vanilla. Add the mashed banana, and combine thoroughly. Stir the flour mixture into the banana mixture until just combined. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper bake cups, and divide the batter among them.

3.     Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 18 to 20 minutes.

Weekend, etc

Things at work have been Ca RAZY lately. Whew.

I've gotten in a few runs though. Friday I went outside for an easy 4.5 mile run. The weather was awesome - hovering above 40 with a bit of sun poking through. I really enjoyed it and took an easier pace.

Workout: Outdoor Run
Distance: 4.5 miles
Time: 39:30
Pace: 8:43/mile

The weekend weather sucked! But we had some really fun plans on the docket. We went over to Mollie and Ryan's house for dinner. K was a champion. I brought his PJs with so he could fall asleep there. I'm so one of those people now - a parent. Ha. Oh man, but I love it so oh well.

Saturday we went to the Home and Holiday show with Pete's brother and his wife. It was so much fun to see those guys. They are pregnant right now and I can't wait to meet my amazing nephew! K was loving all the time with his aunt and uncle too. Lucky guy. We found a display for a bath remodeling thing and so they had this mini tub and shower set up so you could see how nice it would look and it was like the perfect size tub for K so we had to put him in it. HA! It looks like a normal sized person in a normal sized tub. TOO CUTE!

Saturday night we went over to our friend's house to celebrate her birthday. It was a nice dinner and super fun to get to see her. They also have a baby so it was a parent night. DINNER WAS AMAZING! Holy moly. Tom made some pulled pork and I can't get it out of my head. Literally. So delicious - probably the best thing he's ever cooked for me and all I want to do is go steal the leftovers out of their fridge. :)

Monday I got in another run - but it was on the treadmill. I had a stitch in my side for most of the run and it was pretty miserable. Which sucks because my legs really should have been rested from a weekend of no working out. I think I was hungry...

Workout: Treadmill Run
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 33:10
Pace: 8:17/mile

My plan today is to run outside because it's supposed to be in the 40s again! WHOO HOO!
I'll leave you with one more pic of my dude being all snuggly last night :)

Outdoor Running

I much prefer to run outside. When I run outside I don't use an ipod or listen to any music. I just listen to my feet hitting the pavement - that rhythmic sound propels me forward. Especially in the fall when each step crunches into some newly fallen leaves. But we're quickly approaching the "run indoors only" weather. At least for this running mama. I know some die hard Minnesotans who run throughout the winter, but once there's ice on the ground I'm a treadmill girl until Spring. With the weather hovering in the mid 40s I had to take advantage of an outdoor run. I was lucky enough yesterday to have the company of my husband. We work in the same building downtown even though we work for two totally different companies. Occasionally that provides the opportunity to run together. It's always been a great benefit, but it's even more so now that we have Baby K. I made sure to dress warmly enough that I would be able to enjoy the run, but not overly so.

That's the lovely locker room in the gym at work. Yes I took a selfy... oh the shame. I have to admit that I much prefer reading blogs where people post pictures and I'm assuming it's the same for all of you out there. (All 3 of you.... HI!) So there you go. I wore running pants and a long sleeve shirt. I have a Halo Headband that I bought at a race expo last year that was perfect to just keep my ears warm but let my head breathe. I highly recommend using them for warmer winter running days. When it gets frigid I'm a full on hat girl though. 

My husband didn't have a lot of time so we did a 3 mile outdoor run. It was really nice to be able to run together. When we got back to the gym I was going to pop onto the treadmill and do one more mile but all the treadmills were full, so instead I did some lifting to round out the workout. 

Last night I went to Happy Hour with some girlfriends at World Street Kitchen. It was fun to catch up with them and leave K with dad. I wasn't a huge fan of what I ordered to eat, but my friend at work says she's gotten really good food there so don't my meal as a reason not to check it out. 

K turned 4 months old yesterday - and he's pretty freaking excited about it :)

That's all I have for now. I plan to run outside again today - a nice 4.5 mile loop. At my work we have a tradition of cracking a beer or pouring a glass of wine on Fridays at around 3:30pm. I plan to enjoy Beer Friday to round out the work week. Have an awesome weekend and I'll catch up with you guys next week. 

Life outside of working out

I didn't workout yesterday. Instead I went to lunch with some girls from work at the Macy's Skyroom. They have an incredible salad bar there and it was super fun to spend some time with those ladies talking about things other than work. I mean, let's be honest, of course we talked a little bit about work - laughing about some of the projects we're involved in right now, but for the most part we just caught up.

This picture doesn't do the salad bar justice, but it's a glimpse. The salad bar has everything you would want on an amazing salad PLUS pasta salads, a great selection of fruit, a soup bar, a bread selection, and pudding. It's awesome. I may or my not have gone back for seconds. :)

So let's talk about life outside of working out. I work downtown Minneapolis for a Marketing Agency. I'm a Senior Account Executive - which basically is a Project Manager. I really enjoy my job and I like working downtown. I'm enjoying being a working mom. 

I live in South Minneapolis with my husband - Pete, our son - K, our dog - Wyatt and our cat - Ribley. 

Life lately has been all about being a mom. And I love it. We're working on a sleep schedule with K. He comes home from daycare and takes an evening nap. Playing at daycare is a lot of work! Then he gets up and we play with him. Eventually we give him a bath - yes every night - he loves it. We read books, get jammies on, feed him and then rock him to sleep. He's a great evening baby and so full of smiles. He's been pretty sporadic at night and sometimes has great nights, while others are tougher. He had a stretch of time where he was waking once at 4am to eat and then crashing again until 6:45am. Those were the days! For the past few weeks he's been all over the place - literally. There are a few factors at play. First of all - I know he's been growing like a weed and growing is hard work. On top of that he's super active and can roll over like a champion. He can move ALL over his crib in the night. It's awesome. But that means we had to stop swaddling him. Since we stopped swaddling he's been waking himself up a bit more. I am not getting too frustrated. I know this will all work itself out and he'll have a consistent sleep schedule again. Some day. I just need to be consistent myself. Which means I let him whine a little in his crib and try to get him to soothe himself back to sleep, but if he starts crying I'll go get him. I'm his mom - I can't help it. He's only four months old, so I don't think we're at the point where he needs to "cry it out". I do give him time to try to soothe himself back to sleep though. He tends to play in his crib and talk to himself when he's not upset and so I lay in bed a lot at night staring at this: 

Look at that ADORABLE BABY! He's like - hey Mom you should come down here. It's a GREAT time to play right now. Just look at how cute I am! LOOK! MOM! Come play. It's 3:30am :) 

K turned 4 months old today. I can't believe how fast time is flying. I'm so glad we're past the infant stage - that was hard. And he's so rewarding. He lets you know how much he appreciates all your hard work by giving lots of smiles and even a few laughs. His dad and I love that little guy so much. 

I have Happy Hour tonight with some girlfriends in Uptown. I'm looking forward to having a drink and getting out. The weather is getting cold here in MN. When you get off work and it's cold out and there's not a hint of sunlight left in the sky it's easy to want to go home and put your sweatpants on. I'm glad that Pete and I are good about making plans with friends - just enough to get us out of the house, but not so often that we're missing out on good family nights. That's all for now. I'm going outside for my run today - it's supposed to be in the 40s and I need to take advantage of being able to run outside while I still can. I hope you are all having a great week.

Question of the day: How are you sleeping these days? Better than I am? Worse?