Elise is napping and Mike is at Cabela's with Ben, so I am going to take the time to write a quick update so that I can remember what Elise was doing at 12 months old.
We went to the doctor this morning and she is 30.5 inches tall and weighs 24.2 lbs (with a onesie and tights on... it is cold today!). She is still around the 90th percentile in both height and weight. I am going to try to describe each category of development.
Eating:
We are still nursing 4 times a day. At some point in the next few months, I'm planning to replace the daytime feedings with cow's milk. I'm not in a big hurry. She is very efficient and gets right down to business, so breastfeeding is very easy and it doesn't make sense to cut back now. She nurses in the morning, after each nap, and before bed. She eats a good lunch and dinner and sometimes eats breakfast. She still goes down for her morning nap 1.5-2 hours after waking up, so I haven't really pushed the breakfast. When she does eat breakfast, she'll have Cheerios or a banana. For lunch and dinner, she gets a wide variety of foods. If I am eating at the same time, she will have some of my meal. I try to make sure she gets some vegetables, fruits, and protein (meat, cheese, beans, etc) every day.
She is doing much better at indicating her needs during a meal. She will either say or sign "more", will point to her drink when she is thirsty, and will sometimes hold both arms up for "all done" when she is finished eating.
Sleeping:
She still sleeps about 15 hours total between both 1.5-hour naps and about 12 hours at night. Every now and then she will wake up hungry in the middle of the night (I can think of about 3-4 times during the month of January). She understands the words "sleep" and "nap" and if I carry her into her room at naptime or bedtime and mention them, she will put her head on my shoulder and thumb in her mouth. She very rarely makes a fuss.
Playtime:
Most of her wake time consists of walking from room to room around the house. She is walking very well and moved out of the Crawlers class at church last week. She is learning how to stand herself up without pulling up on anything. She will squat down to pick up a small object from the ground and then stand right back up. She isn't interested in many toys right now because she is so busy walking. She usually stops to check out her Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Learning Home (she loves playing with this with someone else, and I can see her enjoying this toy for years), her Leapfrog Fridge Farm, Boss, and her books. She likes to carry small things with her while she walks. Her favorite books are Goodnight Moon, anything by Sandra Boynton or Eric Carle, and Baby Einstein.
Vocabulary:
Here is a list of words that she says regularly and uses correctly: Mama, Dada, Boss, bath, book, ball, hi, byebye, tree, bell, nana (banana), more
She understands SO much. It is amazing how much she has changed in the last few months. In addition to her words, she can identify the fan, lights, crib, glider, diaper, cracker, foods that she normally eats, water bottle, drink (her cup), phone, camera, rocking chair, magnets, music (the buttons that play music), wagon, walker, baby doll, wind chimes, high chair, stacking cups, bow, nose, mouth, head, necklace, door, window, buttons, milk, and many more. When asked, she points to many familiar things that she sees in her books. "Where's ______?" is a common game that we play when she is throwing a tantrum while getting her diaper changed, etc.
She is having a lot of fun trying to mimic us. When she was first starting to walk all around the house, Mike and I followed her on the tile to make sure she didn't trip on anything. We would kick things out of the way with our feet. Well, she started doing the same thing. We have to get it on video. She goes out of her way to kick something out of her way. It is so cute!
She responds to a lot of commands given without gestures, for example "Can you rock Mommy?" (she pushes me in the glider), "Can you put your baby doll in the wagon?", "Can you clap?", "Can you go get a book?", "Can you pet Daddy/Boss/Mommy?" (she pats us with her hand), "Can you turn the page?", "Can Mommy have that?" (if she is holding something I don't want her to play with... this works sometimes, hehe) etc.
Car Toys:
Her favorite car toy is her Little Tikes phone. My mom bought the pink one for her at Target last summer. She loves to open and close it and press the buttons. If she fights going into her car seat, I pretend to talk on the phone to John, who then wants to talk to his girlfriend. It works every time. She also likes to squeak Sophie the Giraffe and shake her Haba toys. She is generally a very good traveler once she gets in her car seat. I am planning to keep her rear-facing until she is too squished or doesn't ride happily in the car.
We love our sweet girl and look forward to many, many more years of fun! Stay tuned for pictures from our January Christmas and family playtime at home. We are excited to celebrate with family and a few friends at her birthday party tomorrow!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Happy Birthday, Elise!
Our sweet baby girl is 1 today and I need to do a short post :) She spent most of the day walking around the house. She is getting faster every day. She is really good at walking through tight spaces, turning around, walking backwards or sideways to get around something, etc. We are so impressed with her and it is so cute to watch. Mike and I gave her the Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Learning Home for her birthday. She loves it! John and her future in-laws came by tonight for a little birthday cupcake. She must have a sweet tooth like her mother because she ate the whole thing! As we were getting ready for bed, she stood herself up (without pulling up on anything) for the first time. Happy Birthday, Elise!
Friday, January 22, 2010
Merry Christmas!
We celebrated our first Christmas with Elise this morning. Pictures and videos to come. For now, I wanted to share this cute video for the grandparents. Elise started walking all over the house yesterday and is the cutest toddler in the world :)
Elise walking all over the house from Stephanie Powell on Vimeo.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Quick Update
Elise has been asleep for awhile and Mike just fell asleep on the couch, so I'm going to give you a quick update. He arrived on Tuesday morning. As Elise and I walked into the Killeen airport, Mike was coming down the escalator (his flight arrived a little early and between Elise peeing on me and then pooping in the bathtub, we were a few minutes later than planned)! It was perfect timing. I will never forget his smile. Elise LOVES her daddy and took to him right away. She gave him a bunch of smiles and refused to get back in the carrier because she wanted him to carry her to the car. She immediately started pointing to Mike if I said "Where's Daddy?" Tonight she pointed to him and said "dada" for the first time in person. It was so cute!
We've had a great time just hanging out and playing. Elise has really picked up the walking in the last 2 days. Such a showoff for Daddy! She can walk around corners, around obstacles (toys) on the floor, and from room to room. Of course, she occasionally loses her balance so we still walk right behind her if she takes off in a random direction. In the last two days she's walked from the fireplace to the refrigerator, from the coffee table to the washing machine, from the glider in her room to the Christmas tree, etc. She stands very well on her own when she wants to.
Boss was also thrilled to welcome Mike home. I took Boss outside while Mike got Elise out of the car. When they came in, M&E hid in the bathroom while B&I played the "Where's Daddy?" game. Boss was a little confused at first and then started sprinting and hopping around the house until he found them in the bathroom.
We look forward to 2 more weeks together!
We've had a great time just hanging out and playing. Elise has really picked up the walking in the last 2 days. Such a showoff for Daddy! She can walk around corners, around obstacles (toys) on the floor, and from room to room. Of course, she occasionally loses her balance so we still walk right behind her if she takes off in a random direction. In the last two days she's walked from the fireplace to the refrigerator, from the coffee table to the washing machine, from the glider in her room to the Christmas tree, etc. She stands very well on her own when she wants to.
Boss was also thrilled to welcome Mike home. I took Boss outside while Mike got Elise out of the car. When they came in, M&E hid in the bathroom while B&I played the "Where's Daddy?" game. Boss was a little confused at first and then started sprinting and hopping around the house until he found them in the bathroom.
We look forward to 2 more weeks together!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Update for the baby book
Well, one of my goals was to finish her baby book before she turns 1. This is not going to happen. Things change when you have an almost-toddler. It is very hard to get anything done while she is awake because she un-does anything given the opportunity and because I want to play with her. By the time she takes a nap, I am tired, too, because I've been running around after her to make sure she doesn't bust her head open. I had to bribe her with every toy in the house just so I could finish making dinner tonight.
Some details for this week (for Mike and the grandparents):
She has been recognizing and saying words for several things in public. She got really excited when we saw the big concrete balls outside HEB today. She pointed to them on the way in and on the way out and said "ball, ball, ball". I didn't notice them at all until she pointed them out to me, hehe. It was pretty cute.
She got her 8th tooth this morning. I am relieved that she will be fairly symmetrical for her Christmas/birthday/family pictures! She has 4 on top and 4 on bottom.
She doesn't walk all the time but will walk at least 75% of the time if she is going somewhere close. She has figured out how to turn around while walking, though she sometimes loses her balance. Her favorite thing to walk to is mommy, whether mommy is expecting it or not. Then she walks to something else, then back to mommy, repeat, repeat, repeat.
She says 'mama' a lot more frequently than she used to... she's also decided that bananas are 'nanas' instead of "banas". She was so excited when we picked out the bananas at the store today.
She will mimic the word mama, dada, nana, baba (or anything that starts with these same sound) on command.
She is a happy little girl and loves to smile and laugh and play games. She brings me joy daily!
On Saturday we were getting ready for John's birthday party. While she was napping, I laid out her dress, tights, and bow so that we could change and go to the party when she woke up. She hadn't worn a bow in at least two weeks. When she crawled into the living room, she immediately picked up the bow, said 'bow' and tried to put it on her head. Unfortunately, she wouldn't keep it on her head, so she had to go bow-less to John's party.
She had spaghetti for the first time at small group last night. She was not very interested in eating it with her hands, so I tried feeding her with a fork... and she loved it! This is the same girl who refuses to eat anything from a spoon 90% of the time.
We are starting to have some little temper tantrums. It is strange because sometimes she reacts normally to a situation and sometimes she throws her head back, stiffens her body, and screams. Sometimes we even get real tears. She did this three times today when I was putting her in the car seat. She did it when I was putting her in the grocery cart (which she normally LOVES) and in the stroller. She is starting to do it if I take something away from her. Diaper changes are the worst. I was changing a poopy diaper today and she ended up in the bathtub. I'll leave the details to your imagination. Mike owes me about 9 months worth of diaper changes, so I think I will let him enjoy this little activity while he is here :)
She is doing a much better job of communicating during meals. She either points or makes the "more" sign when she wants a drink of her water (as long as her cup is visible). If the cup is not visible, she gets very upset when she is thirsty.
She still loves to read books and will keep handing them to me until she is ready to move on to something else. Mike was thrilled to hear 4 rounds of "Peek a Who?" on the webcam. She is also very particular about which book gets read. She tosses books aside until she finds the right one.
She is not very interested in a breakfast meal of solids. I am going to continue to offer it to her if we are at home. She is still napping and sleeping very well at home but it is a hit or miss in the pack and play. I think all of my friends need to move to our neighborhood so that playdates and naptimes won't conflict :)
I need to get this last one on video to do it justice. She is still obsessed with the Christmas tree and says "hi" while waving whenever she sees it. She never forgets to wave to the tree. I don't even say "hi" or "wave" before she does it. She also waves to Boss most of the time.
Some details for this week (for Mike and the grandparents):
She has been recognizing and saying words for several things in public. She got really excited when we saw the big concrete balls outside HEB today. She pointed to them on the way in and on the way out and said "ball, ball, ball". I didn't notice them at all until she pointed them out to me, hehe. It was pretty cute.
She got her 8th tooth this morning. I am relieved that she will be fairly symmetrical for her Christmas/birthday/family pictures! She has 4 on top and 4 on bottom.
She doesn't walk all the time but will walk at least 75% of the time if she is going somewhere close. She has figured out how to turn around while walking, though she sometimes loses her balance. Her favorite thing to walk to is mommy, whether mommy is expecting it or not. Then she walks to something else, then back to mommy, repeat, repeat, repeat.
She says 'mama' a lot more frequently than she used to... she's also decided that bananas are 'nanas' instead of "banas". She was so excited when we picked out the bananas at the store today.
She will mimic the word mama, dada, nana, baba (or anything that starts with these same sound) on command.
She is a happy little girl and loves to smile and laugh and play games. She brings me joy daily!
On Saturday we were getting ready for John's birthday party. While she was napping, I laid out her dress, tights, and bow so that we could change and go to the party when she woke up. She hadn't worn a bow in at least two weeks. When she crawled into the living room, she immediately picked up the bow, said 'bow' and tried to put it on her head. Unfortunately, she wouldn't keep it on her head, so she had to go bow-less to John's party.
She had spaghetti for the first time at small group last night. She was not very interested in eating it with her hands, so I tried feeding her with a fork... and she loved it! This is the same girl who refuses to eat anything from a spoon 90% of the time.
We are starting to have some little temper tantrums. It is strange because sometimes she reacts normally to a situation and sometimes she throws her head back, stiffens her body, and screams. Sometimes we even get real tears. She did this three times today when I was putting her in the car seat. She did it when I was putting her in the grocery cart (which she normally LOVES) and in the stroller. She is starting to do it if I take something away from her. Diaper changes are the worst. I was changing a poopy diaper today and she ended up in the bathtub. I'll leave the details to your imagination. Mike owes me about 9 months worth of diaper changes, so I think I will let him enjoy this little activity while he is here :)
She is doing a much better job of communicating during meals. She either points or makes the "more" sign when she wants a drink of her water (as long as her cup is visible). If the cup is not visible, she gets very upset when she is thirsty.
She still loves to read books and will keep handing them to me until she is ready to move on to something else. Mike was thrilled to hear 4 rounds of "Peek a Who?" on the webcam. She is also very particular about which book gets read. She tosses books aside until she finds the right one.
She is not very interested in a breakfast meal of solids. I am going to continue to offer it to her if we are at home. She is still napping and sleeping very well at home but it is a hit or miss in the pack and play. I think all of my friends need to move to our neighborhood so that playdates and naptimes won't conflict :)
I need to get this last one on video to do it justice. She is still obsessed with the Christmas tree and says "hi" while waving whenever she sees it. She never forgets to wave to the tree. I don't even say "hi" or "wave" before she does it. She also waves to Boss most of the time.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Wow...
Today is our 10 year "dating" anniversary. Here is a picture from our high school prom in the spring of 2000! Do you think we've changed much? Hehe.
Mike, these have been the best 10 years of my life. I love you and I can't wait to see you next week!!!
Mike, these have been the best 10 years of my life. I love you and I can't wait to see you next week!!!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Happy Birthday, John!
John's first birthday was yesterday! We took Chipotle over to his house for a birthday lunch. Elise and John both LOVE Chipotle. Much to Mike's dismay, I had a strong aversion to it when I was pregnant and for a few months after Elise was born. Now Elise and I eat Chipotle at least once a week. Mike is very excited to join us in this habit!
This evening Elise got all dressed up for John's birthday party. She had a great time playing with John and Evie, who turned 1 in December.
Is this a "Dwight" expression or what??
Showing off the tie...
Opening his birthday present from Elise. Don't tell her, but she might be receiving one of these as well so that she and John can scoot around together this spring.
Eating his yummy cake...
The Schuchard family
This evening Elise got all dressed up for John's birthday party. She had a great time playing with John and Evie, who turned 1 in December.
Is this a "Dwight" expression or what??
Showing off the tie...
Opening his birthday present from Elise. Don't tell her, but she might be receiving one of these as well so that she and John can scoot around together this spring.
Eating his yummy cake...
The Schuchard family
Friday, January 8, 2010
My little walker
Elise continues to get better and better with her balance while she is walking and she LOVES to practice. She definitely prefers walking to cruising and crawling. She will often choose to pull up on something and then walk rather than just crawling. She can only go in a straight line to her destination (and sometimes she can't quite make it there!) We haven't had any big tumbles yet.... thankfully she's pretty good at lowering herself down. Janet came over to hang out tonight and so I took the opportunity to get a few walking pictures. I wonder what she will be doing when her daddy comes home?
Can you tell that she loves being able to walk?
Walking to mommy with Goodnight Moon as the bait...
Lowering herself down to the floor...
Not to be outdone...
Please don't learn to climb... PLEASE don't learn to climb...
Can you tell that she loves being able to walk?
Walking to mommy with Goodnight Moon as the bait...
Lowering herself down to the floor...
Not to be outdone...
Please don't learn to climb... PLEASE don't learn to climb...
Thursday, January 7, 2010
I need an extra set of hands
... to take a good walking video. I have been trying for 2 days and it is nearly impossible! I set the camera up and then she walks in a different direction than I anticipated. This time I tried to bribe her by getting her to walk toward the camera, and it worked! In this video, she walks from the entertainment stand to the coffee table (about 7 feet, according to my volleyball net measuring skills). Elise has been attempting to walk from furniture to furniture, toys, Boss, etc. She is quite fearless and I am shocked that we haven't had any bruises yet. This is probably because I don't leave her side, haha. She's good at lowering herself down from a standing position. Once she learns not to speed up when she gets excited, she'll be good to go. Tonight when we were getting ready for bed, she would crawl over to her basket of books, pick one out, pull herself up on the ottoman, hand it to me, and then walk to me. We repeated this for about 5 different books. She is very proud of her new skill.
Elise walking from Stephanie Powell on Vimeo.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Random update
Elise is obsessed with the Christmas tree. She never gets tired of looking at the "gee" (and trying to take off the ornaments, etc). So, every time we leave the tree, we turn off the lights and wave 'byebye'. Today, she decided to crawl out of the office (away from the tree) of her own accord, and then thought better of it. She sat up, turned halfway around, and waved byebye to the tree. Then she kept crawling into the living room. Too cute!
Tonight she got much more adventurous with her walking. Even though she can walk, she chooses to crawl or cruise unless I am within a few feet (and she's already standing). Tonight, she walked to me almost every time she was ready to leave the furniture. She also tried walking to Boss, her Mega Bloks truck, her walker, and the coffee table. This is getting scary... I hope there are no bruises in our future! Let's just say that I am very thankful for carpet right now. She's quite good at lowering herself down from a standing position if she is walking slowly. A problem arises when she gets excited about something and goes too fast. She has the best balance when she is holding something in her hands.
Tonight she also got better at communicating her needs while eating. She gets fussy a few times during every meal, and it is either because she wants "more" (and signs or says it often if her tray is empty), wants a different type of food, wants something to drink, or is finished eating. I am trying to get her to communicate without fussing. Tonight she pointed to her cup every time she was thirsty. She looked quite pleased with herself because she knew I understood her. We are making progress!
Here are a few words that she said on camera recently. Notice how excited she gets when she remembered the Christmas tree and then was able to peer around the corner to see the 'gee'. She says it twice. In the second part of the clip, she says 'buh' for book right at the beginning. This is a pretty good representation of her excitement level when it comes to books. She LOVES to read her books and isn't content to just read it once. If I close the book when I finish reading and hand it to her, she will turn and hand it back to me if she wants me to read it again. I estimate that I read anywhere from 30-50 books per day. We don't have that nearly that many books, but she has some favorites that she loves to read, and reread, and reread, etc. She will always pick out "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" and "Goodnight Moon" out of her basket of books. She is starting to add a consonant to the end of some words, like "ball". Bath is getting close as well.
Tonight she got much more adventurous with her walking. Even though she can walk, she chooses to crawl or cruise unless I am within a few feet (and she's already standing). Tonight, she walked to me almost every time she was ready to leave the furniture. She also tried walking to Boss, her Mega Bloks truck, her walker, and the coffee table. This is getting scary... I hope there are no bruises in our future! Let's just say that I am very thankful for carpet right now. She's quite good at lowering herself down from a standing position if she is walking slowly. A problem arises when she gets excited about something and goes too fast. She has the best balance when she is holding something in her hands.
Tonight she also got better at communicating her needs while eating. She gets fussy a few times during every meal, and it is either because she wants "more" (and signs or says it often if her tray is empty), wants a different type of food, wants something to drink, or is finished eating. I am trying to get her to communicate without fussing. Tonight she pointed to her cup every time she was thirsty. She looked quite pleased with herself because she knew I understood her. We are making progress!
Here are a few words that she said on camera recently. Notice how excited she gets when she remembered the Christmas tree and then was able to peer around the corner to see the 'gee'. She says it twice. In the second part of the clip, she says 'buh' for book right at the beginning. This is a pretty good representation of her excitement level when it comes to books. She LOVES to read her books and isn't content to just read it once. If I close the book when I finish reading and hand it to her, she will turn and hand it back to me if she wants me to read it again. I estimate that I read anywhere from 30-50 books per day. We don't have that nearly that many books, but she has some favorites that she loves to read, and reread, and reread, etc. She will always pick out "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" and "Goodnight Moon" out of her basket of books. She is starting to add a consonant to the end of some words, like "ball". Bath is getting close as well.
Favorite Words from Stephanie Powell on Vimeo.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Working out/playdate with John
Sarah and John came over for a playdate this afternoon. It had been 2 weeks since John and Elise last saw each other and they have both learned new skills since then. It is amazing how fast they are growing. John's birthday is on Friday! Elise is trying to decide what to wear for his birthday party.
Sarah and I came up with a plan several months ago. We get together a few times a week to have a playdate AND work out. One of us runs while the other watches the babies, and then we switch. We usually eat lunch together as well. Sometimes we even get to chat or work on the baby books while both babies are napping! I am so thankful for her (and Ross and John's) friendship. We met at the Bride's Coffee at West Point during graduation week in 2004. We all went to flight school together and then came here. Sarah's husband Ross was Mike's roommate in Iraq during the first deployment. We are hoping that we will be together again at West Point in a few years. How cute would it be for John and Elise to start kindergarten together???
On another note, I am getting ready for the Austin Half Marathon on Valentine's Day. Today I did 8 very hilly miles and it felt great. I haven't run that far since the 3M Half Marathon in January 2008. I was in much, much, MUCH better running shape then. I just looked at the past results online and I actually ran the whole half at an 8:19 pace. That is about 45 seconds faster per mile than I ran today (and I felt great today!). Oh well, I don't care. Even though I'm not working outside the home, I am technically a single mom right now and I don't have the time to put into running to get back into my 2007/2008 shape. I have already checked off the half marathon block, so this one will just be for fun :)
My mom and 2 aunts are walking the half, my brother is running the half, and a few of my cousins are running the marathon. When I found this out, I had to sign up. It is one of those "everyone else is jumping off the cliff and if I don't jump I will be the lazy family member" situations. I have never before faced this particular cliff. I have absolutely no goals with this half except to finish (and thus, not be considered lazy, hehe). I actually plan to walk part of it. I don't know if I will increase my mileage before the race or not. I have an 8 mile route that I love (from my house down 3481 to Stillhouse and back... there is just something about the constant uphill and downhill that is perfect for me), so I will do that a few more times. I may try to get up to 10, but if it doesn't work out, it is totally okay.
My goal with working out is to establish a manageable AND enjoyable routine that fits into my lifestyle as a stay-at-home mom. I like to work out in the first part of the day. I run a few times a week (sometimes while Sarah or someone else watches Elise, and sometimes with the stroller) and I do a workout DVD a few times a week while Elise is napping. If the weather is nice, I like to take Elise and Boss for a walk.
Here are a few of my favorite workout DVDs. I don't have a long attention span for working out in the living room. I like these two DVDs because they are relatively short and still provide a good workout. If you are interested, click on the title to read more at amazon.com.
Pilates
I used to do pilates a lot in college. I love this particular DVD because it switches very quickly between exercises. I don't like wasting time listening to explanations or waiting between moves. It does the same series of exercises in about half the time as some other pilates tapes/DVDs that I own. This no-frills DVD assumes that you know what you are doing, but it also has a Modified Basic and a Basic section that probably go slower and teach the moves. I have never looked at them. I like the Intermediate section for a short workout (13 minutes) and the Advanced version for a longer workout (less than 25 minutes). I watched the Super Advanced one and just laughed.
30-Day Shred
This DVD has 3 workouts that are about 26 minutes long from warm up to cool down. This includes strength training with hand weights (I use 5 lbs), cardio, and abs. For me, this DVD falls short in the abs department (granted, I have never tried level 3), but it fits a surprising amount of strength and cardio into a small time frame. Jillian uses a lot of compound exercises (that work the upper and lower body at the same time) which are challenging. I've been using this DVD for months and haven't gotten tired of the workouts. I just switch back and forth between level 1 and level 2. They are both good workouts in different ways. One of these days I will try level 3.
I would love to hear your recommendations for workout DVDs.
Here is a short video from today. I put the random fireplace clip in the middle to show that Elise tries to get a knee up on the fireplace. I am not proud of this accomplishment.
Sarah and I came up with a plan several months ago. We get together a few times a week to have a playdate AND work out. One of us runs while the other watches the babies, and then we switch. We usually eat lunch together as well. Sometimes we even get to chat or work on the baby books while both babies are napping! I am so thankful for her (and Ross and John's) friendship. We met at the Bride's Coffee at West Point during graduation week in 2004. We all went to flight school together and then came here. Sarah's husband Ross was Mike's roommate in Iraq during the first deployment. We are hoping that we will be together again at West Point in a few years. How cute would it be for John and Elise to start kindergarten together???
On another note, I am getting ready for the Austin Half Marathon on Valentine's Day. Today I did 8 very hilly miles and it felt great. I haven't run that far since the 3M Half Marathon in January 2008. I was in much, much, MUCH better running shape then. I just looked at the past results online and I actually ran the whole half at an 8:19 pace. That is about 45 seconds faster per mile than I ran today (and I felt great today!). Oh well, I don't care. Even though I'm not working outside the home, I am technically a single mom right now and I don't have the time to put into running to get back into my 2007/2008 shape. I have already checked off the half marathon block, so this one will just be for fun :)
My mom and 2 aunts are walking the half, my brother is running the half, and a few of my cousins are running the marathon. When I found this out, I had to sign up. It is one of those "everyone else is jumping off the cliff and if I don't jump I will be the lazy family member" situations. I have never before faced this particular cliff. I have absolutely no goals with this half except to finish (and thus, not be considered lazy, hehe). I actually plan to walk part of it. I don't know if I will increase my mileage before the race or not. I have an 8 mile route that I love (from my house down 3481 to Stillhouse and back... there is just something about the constant uphill and downhill that is perfect for me), so I will do that a few more times. I may try to get up to 10, but if it doesn't work out, it is totally okay.
My goal with working out is to establish a manageable AND enjoyable routine that fits into my lifestyle as a stay-at-home mom. I like to work out in the first part of the day. I run a few times a week (sometimes while Sarah or someone else watches Elise, and sometimes with the stroller) and I do a workout DVD a few times a week while Elise is napping. If the weather is nice, I like to take Elise and Boss for a walk.
Here are a few of my favorite workout DVDs. I don't have a long attention span for working out in the living room. I like these two DVDs because they are relatively short and still provide a good workout. If you are interested, click on the title to read more at amazon.com.
Pilates
I used to do pilates a lot in college. I love this particular DVD because it switches very quickly between exercises. I don't like wasting time listening to explanations or waiting between moves. It does the same series of exercises in about half the time as some other pilates tapes/DVDs that I own. This no-frills DVD assumes that you know what you are doing, but it also has a Modified Basic and a Basic section that probably go slower and teach the moves. I have never looked at them. I like the Intermediate section for a short workout (13 minutes) and the Advanced version for a longer workout (less than 25 minutes). I watched the Super Advanced one and just laughed.
30-Day Shred
This DVD has 3 workouts that are about 26 minutes long from warm up to cool down. This includes strength training with hand weights (I use 5 lbs), cardio, and abs. For me, this DVD falls short in the abs department (granted, I have never tried level 3), but it fits a surprising amount of strength and cardio into a small time frame. Jillian uses a lot of compound exercises (that work the upper and lower body at the same time) which are challenging. I've been using this DVD for months and haven't gotten tired of the workouts. I just switch back and forth between level 1 and level 2. They are both good workouts in different ways. One of these days I will try level 3.
I would love to hear your recommendations for workout DVDs.
Here is a short video from today. I put the random fireplace clip in the middle to show that Elise tries to get a knee up on the fireplace. I am not proud of this accomplishment.
John and Elise walking and dancing from Stephanie Powell on Vimeo.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Putting things in their place
Elise loves to play with the shape sorter on the front of her walker. She is most interested in the balls and it appears that she is more accurate with her right hand.
She loves to look at the Christmas tree. I have to keep the office door closed. I can't count the number of times that she crawled over there wanting to go in to see the "geee" (tree). Here she is waiting for me to open the door.
Come on, mom...
"Oooooh, I love the gee!"
Then she went down for a nap. After she woke up, we took a few more pictures. She was having a bad hair day. Don't worry, I washed her hair tonight so that she would be ready for her playdate with John tomorrow. She loves to look out the dining room window into the backyard.
She also loves to play under the dining room table. Thankfully, she has figured out how to get around under there without bumping her head.
Ok, I guess I will look at the camera for you.
In these pictures you can see all 7 of her teeth. The 8th one will be coming in any day now. She also said "more" several times today.
Putting things in their place from Stephanie Powell on Vimeo.
She loves to look at the Christmas tree. I have to keep the office door closed. I can't count the number of times that she crawled over there wanting to go in to see the "geee" (tree). Here she is waiting for me to open the door.
Come on, mom...
"Oooooh, I love the gee!"
Then she went down for a nap. After she woke up, we took a few more pictures. She was having a bad hair day. Don't worry, I washed her hair tonight so that she would be ready for her playdate with John tomorrow. She loves to look out the dining room window into the backyard.
She also loves to play under the dining room table. Thankfully, she has figured out how to get around under there without bumping her head.
Ok, I guess I will look at the camera for you.
In these pictures you can see all 7 of her teeth. The 8th one will be coming in any day now. She also said "more" several times today.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Flowers
Elise was so anxious to sing "Happy Birthday" to me that she woke up 30 minutes early (at 7:30). We read some books and then headed to Starbucks for a birthday frappuccino. This might be my last one for a long time. Then, we both took a lovely morning nap. The weather was gorgeous so after lunch we headed to the park. Elise loves the swings! I know the main attraction was Elise, but the grandparents were able to use the birthday excuse for this trip, hehe. My mom came up for the afternoon and evening (I hope you feel better, Dad!) and Mike's parents came up for an hour or two as well. Thanks for entertaining the baby!
Elise has another new word. I was holding her in the kitchen and she pointed to the bananas on the counter and said "bana" or something like that. I rewarded her by cutting up some chunks of banana and while she was eating them she said it again.
Mike sent me some beautiful flowers for my birthday. I branched out a little and used the "close up" mode on my camera. It was fun to try to focus on different parts of the arrangement. Thanks, babe!
Elise has another new word. I was holding her in the kitchen and she pointed to the bananas on the counter and said "bana" or something like that. I rewarded her by cutting up some chunks of banana and while she was eating them she said it again.
Mike sent me some beautiful flowers for my birthday. I branched out a little and used the "close up" mode on my camera. It was fun to try to focus on different parts of the arrangement. Thanks, babe!
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