Personal Day

I took a personal day from work on Friday for two reasons.

1. Mac had his nine month check up!  He's doing swimmingly--measuring just above the 50th percentile in weight (which is wonderful considering the 4 month check up trauma we had where he was at the 9th).  He weighs 20 lbs 12 oz and measures 28 1/2 inches long.  He's healthy all the way and has no food restrictions except for honey, peanut butter, and milk as a drink.  Woo!

2. We had new counters installed in our kitchen.  I am so happy.  I think they look AMAZING--they're quartz and very neutral.  We haven't done the backsplash yet, but they're so much better than the PINK countertops that came with the house AND the nice gray paint job I did 2 years ago. 

There was a little snag because we're cheap.  The company wanted an extra $500 to re-do the plumbing, but I convinced myself that I could do it with the help of my dad on the phone.

I got the new faucet hooked up quickly--after a trip to Ace to buy the correct tool.  The issue was that we changed from a double-bowl sink to a single bowl (because, seriously, our countertops are small and that extra 8ish inches of space was totally worth it) which means that the location and height of the garbage disposal changed....which means that the pvc pipes don't fit.

So... I used my awesome skills to MacIver a solution involving duct tape and an old water bottle.  It's somewhat functional if you count the roasting pan that we use to catch drips.  Dad's coming to town in a couple of weeks and he promised that he and Grant (my brother, who probably does not know he was volunteered) could quickly fix it.

I'll share pictures after I get the backsplash shoved up...I think the kitchen is DRASTICALLY improved over its state when we moved in.

Running...another half

Despite my relatively rough half marathon a few weeks ago, I am signed up to do another on May 27th.

Um.... yeah.  I'm not sure how motivated I am for this.  However, after feeling like horse crap after the last one, I am motivated to finish the race in better form this time.

I found a new training plan which only required me to run 4 days a week and seemed doable-- Mondays and Fridays I run 3 miles, Wednesdays I run a moderate (6-8 miles) amount, and Saturdays I do a long run (up to 12 miles).  This fits well into my existing schedule...except for Wednesdays.  I can't manage 6 miles before needing to pick up the kidlet.

Luckily, David is SUPER supportive--he's committed to being home every Wednesday so that I can leave and go for a run.

David would have agreed to this for the first half post-Mac, but I wasn't interested or motivated in following a schedule.  I think I really needed to do poorly on the first half to convince myself that real training is worth it and actually works.


To even things out... I have also committed to being the primary caregiver for Mac every Monday night so that David can play softball.  Every other night we're shared duties all the way :)

Baby Pancakes

 I mentioned yesterday that Mac is a good eater.  One of his MOST FAVORITE things in the world are the baby pancakes I make for him.  I love them because they're easy, freeze well, and aren't messy at all to take with us--unlike bananas or yogurt.

Here's the recipe, courtesy of Momtastic.


 1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cups uncooked baby barley cereal
1/2 cups uncooked baby oatmeal cereal
1 cup breast milk or formula (yep, breast milk--so many uses!)
 1/2 cup mashed banana (or fruit of your choice)
1 Tbsp melted margarine or butter
3 egg yolks
Apple juice
Cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla to taste

Mix ingredients together and add enough juice to make a pancake like consistency.

Cook in pan as you would a "regular" pancake.
 

They're soft for baby gums and pull apart easily when out and about.  Plus, I can throw whatever fruit I have on hand in--I'm thinking the next batch might feature blueberries, since they're typically a hit!

9 Months!

Our little stinker turned 9 months old on Friday!

I cannot believe how big he is--especially with those 7 teeth.  He looks like a little boy when he grins and you can see every sharp one of them :)

To celebrate his birthday, we took him bowling for the first time!

Ok, it wasn't really to celebrate for Mac--we went bowling and then tried to tell him that it was his birthday party.

 Luckily, Mac doesn't understand and was happy just to chill on the floor with some toys and our mood-lifter, juice.

I think watching the bowling balls and all the little kids running around was really interesting to him.

At 9 months, Maclin is crawling like a champ--he prefers army-crawling at this point, but does "regular" crawl when the mood suits him.  He's pulling up on everything--furniture and my legs and wanting to be helped to walk around.

He's eating like a champ--I'm slowly introducing new foods and there's nothing he won't eat.  Right now white bean chicken chili (special baby-friendly recipe) is his favorite.  He loves things that have tons of flavor--no blah baby food for Maclin!

He babbles constantly--staying in church with us is not an option at this stage.  

His hair has gotten REALLY blond--I'm still hopeful that a little red will emerge, but he's a blondy right now.

Look at the changes as Big Mac ages!

Just born

3 months

6 months

9 months

Yogurt!

What's even messier was his diaper about 7 minutes after this picture.

Babies are gross!

Exhausted

 During dinner, David and I typically put Mac in his jumper to hang out and play while we eat.  Last night, David, Debra, and I were enjoying some ravioli lasagna and learned that Mac was more tired than we thought.  He had passed out in his jumper.

The weekend full of people must have been more tiring than we realized :)  The funniest part was that he started jumping again as we tried to take him out--like he had never fallen asleep!

Half

Sunday was the Go! St. Louis Marathon and Half Marathon.  I've run this race (the half) every year since I started running, but this year Kyle and Cher decided to run it as well.  It was Kyle's first half marathon and Cher's 3rd full marathon.

We had a good time--Kyle enjoyed trying to corrupt my baby, even offering him a beef stick at the expo.

Maclin was less than thrilled when he realized that he couldn't actually eat the beef, but he held onto that thing for a solid half an hour.

The race was tough for me--my training was lackadaisical at best, consisting of 2 3-mile runs during the week and a longer run on Saturdays.  That was totally different than I had in previous years.  Pair that with the fact that the kiddo wasn't a stellar sleeper last week and I was just hoping to finish.

And, to top it off, I glanced down at mile 10 and realized that I had on two different shoes--one was the shoe I was supposed to wear and the other was an older shoe that had been retired but resembled the correct pair.

No wonder my feet hurt!  I have a killer blister on my left foot!

But I did finish--just a smidgen faster than last year, when I was 26 weeks pregnant. 

 I didn't get too down on myself because this little guy was waiting for me at the finish line.  

Oh, and this guy helped too.

Kyle and Cher both did well--Kyle did especially well for his first half marathon, finishing nearly 30 minutes before me.

 Then we celebrated with frozen custard at Ted Drewe's.  Dad defied authority by sitting on the dock when ordered not to by the sign.

Good weekend--glad the race is over!!

Shoes Shoes Shoes

Our sitter is out of town attending her brother's wedding.  My mom came in Wednesday to watch Mac and decided that it was high time the little guy had some shoes.

This picture kind of makes me sad... he doesn't look like a baby anymore.  He's a little boy.

Mac seems to like the shoes--as far as I can tell.  He hasn't cried when putting them on and doesn't try to take them off, so I count that as a victory!

Our Little Monster Ideas

Mac will be 9 months old in a few days...seems like the perfect time to plan his birthday party, right?

Yeah, maybe a little premature, but no one's ever accused me of being a procrastinator.

Anyway, today I'm thinking that I would like the party to have a theme... and it's going to be monster!  That might change a few times, but I've been in awe of some of the decor I've seen on Pinterest.

What do you all think?

Pin The Eye on the Monster

Monster Cake

 Monster Party

Avocados

He loves them...but...

Gross.

Biking Man

For Easter, Mac got a present that really benefits me...but I decided that it was going to be Mac's gift.

How much longer can I pull that off?  Pretty soon he's going to know that something I want isn't really a gift for him.

Anyway, for Easter, Mac received...a bike trailer!

 Obviously, the kid adores it :)

 He adored it more when he realized that he could chew on the various cords.

On Sunday, after getting the kiddo on a helmet, we took the cart on it's inaugural ride.  And, man alive, that sucker makes it harder to ride my bike!  Hills are a bit tougher lugging that thing and the kiddo.  It might be that my bike has road tires on it and I'm fairly certain that they're not for carrying loads.

At any rate--I am excited to pull Mac to the pool this summer!

Happy Easter

 Here's hoping you all had a happy Easter...

as happy as it could have been if your mom made you dress up like a banker :)

We had a great day... we went to church early in the morning and then had a lovely brunch full of God's most perfect food: bacon.

Everyone looked so snazzy--it was hard not to feel happy and thankful for the day!

Teeth!

I love this kid--he's swell and jolly 95% of the time.

Seriously, check out this grin...

 You'll notice that his teeth are looking sharp and stunning.

This week, I noticed that it looks like FOUR (4!!) of his top teeth are coming in, all at once.

It's REALLY hard to take a picture of Mac's mouth while holding a camera, but you get the idea.

Those look mean!

When these pop through for good, Mac will be up to 7 teeth.

Dancing, Falling, etc

The kid was trying his hardest to dance... it was going pretty well until the end.

I think there's still some time before he can dance without support :)

Best Saturday

Over the weekend, I had the best Saturday possible.

I woke up at 7 and took Maclin on an 8 mile run in glorious weather--it was warmish, but not too warm.  Tons of people were out on the trail and a bunch of them told me that Mac was cute.  

That always makes my day :)

I ran home, showered, and then packed Mac back up to meet my friend Beth and her baby Niamh at the farmer's market.  We bought a bunch of veggies and then let the kiddos play for a while.

Niamh then crawled away.  Since she's much faster than Mac, he opted to stay in place and play with her discarded orange.  And some grass.

After that, I dropped Mac back off at home and headed out to meet Martha and Laura for pedicures.  That took quite a bit less time than we expected, so we got some frozen yogurt.  Yum.

Then book club met up and saw THE HUNGER GAMES.  I loved the books--and I loved the movies.  I purposefully did not reread the book before seeing the movie because I wanted it to be "new" again.  And it was awesome.  People cried.  Not going to say who...but people for reals sobbed that happened to be sitting in my row :)

Then book club went to Syberg's and I had what is probably my favorite restaurant drink--their Long Island Iced Tea is awesome.  

To top the evening off, David was watching basketball at our house with some friends... since book club Tara's husband happened to be one of those friends, she came too.  

It was seriously the most perfect day.  Exercise, shopping, personal care, sweets, a movie, friends.  

I hope every Saturday can be as pleasant as that!

Fat Bet

I WON FATBET!

Go me!!!!!

Don't get too excited--neither of our weight loss amounts for the month were staggering.  But I managed to lose just over a pound more than David and a win is a win!

So he owes me $34.

We're debating if we should change it up for next month--what do you all think?