You have to leave room in life to Dream.
~Buffy Sainte-Marie

Monday, July 4, 2011

The Big Day

Continued from last post

I was able to sleep for a little bit. I think maybe about two hours. Ben was able to sleep for a bit too. I woke up really feeling like I needed to use the restroom. When the nurse came in to check on me I told her this. She told me that no, I didn't have to use the bathroom. That was just the baby putting pressure on my nerve as she moved into the birth canal.

It wasn't long after that the nurse had me do some practice pushes. She let the doctor know that I was close. Dr. Paulson had just been woken up to help with another delivery. Our nurse (feel so bad that I don't remember her name!) thought she might have seen something in the "water" that might be a bowl movement from the baby. Just in case, she got a couple of nurses in to stand by in case our baby needed to be suctioned.

When everyone was set (except the doctor) I got to push some more. It's true what others had told me - it felt good to push. The nurse said I was a great pusher. She even said that next time I was delivering they should record it. Not sure how I would feel about others seeing me like that, but it did make me feel good.

The doctor got in the room. She took her spot. It was only a few set of pushes later that our baby girl was born! (Total of 45 minutes of pushing). It hurt like heck. I tore a lot. But our baby was perfect! Her head was even round and "normal" shaped. After the cord was cut (by the dr. because both Ben and I were grossed out about it), I got to hold her. She was so precious! I had her laying on my chest. I felt something cool against me. I thought it was a leg coming out of the blankets. I reached in to pull the blanket around her to discover that it wasn't a cold limb, but poop! The nurse and Ben were laughing at me. But they cleaned me up and got new blankets for our baby. Then I had to hand her off to get measured. And I got to get stitched up. During delivery and stitching, I feel in love with my doctor. She was exactly what I needed.

Proud grandparents (both sets) were the first to arrive. Unfortunately, my new nurse shooed them out right away because she wanted me to take a bath before I moved to my new room. So, they went out to breakfast while I got a bath and moved to another room.

The next 24 hours flew by with other visitors and constant visits from nurses. I was so tired. And we didn't have a name yet. We went into the hospital with 3 names. We still were undecided after she was born. Finally on Sunday we got some quiet time and we went through the names again. After we decided on one, we realized we didn't have a middle name. More discussions. Finally, we decided on a name - Adelyn Elise (meaning Noble, Consecrated to God).

Saturday, July 2, 2011

The Day Before

I can't tell you how many times I've kicked myself for not having a better timeline of this day. But, here is what I remember.

The night before: When I go to bed, I have a bit of an upset stomach. I wonder if it's the start of something, but dismiss it because the doctors kept telling me I would probably go late.

3 AM: I wake up with a slight pain. That's interesting. I wonder if it's a contraction? Roll back over and go back to sleep. I'm woken up about every 15-20 minutes. Pretty sure they're contractions.

5 AM: Alarm goes off. Time for my walk with Zoey. I double check that I have my phone with me. Throughout the walk I have contractions. They're not too painful but in the 1 mile walk I have about three. When I get home, I lay on the couch and time the length and distance between them. I'm having one about every ten minutes that lasts 30-60 seconds. When they don't go away after 30 minutes of laying still and drinking water, I decide that maybe this is it. I go wake up Ben. It's about 6:30.

6:30 - 12:30: Ben and I shower and start running errands. We really thought we were going to have the weekend to do the last minute things. We go to Home Depot to get a piece of plywood for the crib (for our monitor that detects movements). We go to Target for some random stuff including some snack food for the hospital. We also run to Babies R Us to buy the car seat. We had one, but Ben decided he wanted it to be more girly. We come home, got the crib ready and the car seat installed. We also eat lunch. All this time we have been keeping track of contractions. They're anywhere from 2-12 minutes apart. Some are painful enough that I have to stop what I'm doing to breathe for a bit. But still, not too bad.

12:30 PM: I call my clinic to let them know what's going on. I am supposed to be having my 40 week appointment today with the only doctor we haven't met yet. They tell me to go ahead and go to the hospital for them to check me out. We finish packing our bags and head out. I think we may have called the soon-to-be grandparents to let them know what was going on.

1:30 PM: We get to the hospital. They put monitors on me to check on the baby and the contractions. They check things out. They agree that I'm in labor, but I'm not to a 3 yet, so they won't admit me. They tell us to walk around the floor for an hour and they will recheck. We make countless loops. We look at the babies in the nursery.

2:30 PM: We go back to the little room and get hooked up again. Contractions are more intense. And they think I'm at a 3, so they start the process of admitting me. But it's also the time where the shift of nurses change, so things take a little longer. But that's ok. When we are brought to our room, I'm happy to find that it's one with a great view of the woods and fields. Nature is calming to me.

This is where the times get a little fuzzy...

5 PM?: It's around this time that we meet the doctor on call from our clinic - Dr. Paulson. She is the only doctor of the four possible that we hadn't met. She's just delivered a baby down the hall. She seems a little more interested in talking with the nurses than with me. But she seems nice. She checks on me and then breaks my water. Apparently it was bulging. It was a very weird sensation.

6 - 9:30 PM: I'm pretty uncomfortable. The contractions are getting pretty strong. I'm not comfortable in any position. And based on the monitor on the baby, the nurses are guessing that she is "sunny side up." They want me on my side to help her move into position. We decide to try a hot bath. That doesn't help. I'm exhausted. If I knew that it would only be a few more hours, I could hang on. But I think I've only made it to a 5 so far so it could be a long time. The pain is getting so intense that I am left shaking and shivering after each contraction. I'm worried that I won't have the strength to push. Ben and I talk about our options. I agree to an epidural. Ben tells the nurse and they put in the request.

10:30 PM: The doctor (not the delivery one) is here to give me an epidural. I'm worried that my shaking will make it impossible for him to get it in. I try to be as still as I can. He gets it in without any problems. Ben asks if it's helped with the pain. I didn't even realize that I had another contraction. So, yep! It helps. I start to feel strange and weird. My head hurts. Turns out it is because my blood pressure has plummeted as a result of the epidural. I get a bag of fluids. I slowly start to feel better. Once I get stabilized, the nurses leave us to let us get some sleep.

Monday, May 9, 2011

My First Mother's Day

I know I have a lot of other topics that I need to catch up on, but I thought I would first write about my first Mother's Day.

My "day" started with dinner Saturday night with my parents, Grandma and aunt and uncle and cousin. It was nice to see everyone and we had a lot of fun at dinner. Adelyn did great during the 2+ hour event.

Sunday Adelyn slept in until 8! It was so nice that all of us could sleep in. Then she and daddy ran to the store to buy orange rolls (the store was out when Ben tried to buy them the day before). After our delicious breakfast, we went for a walk before it decided to rain. Then we had family nap time. After that we ran over to say hi to my parents again. Then after Adelyn went to bed, Ben made a divine meal of grilled steak, baked potatoes with broccoli and cheese and rolls and a bottle of Merlot. So tasty. Then Ben and I watched a movie (Tangled) and ate ice cream. To finish off my day, I had a very nice and hot bubble bath. I went to bed a very happy mommy!

I also got some very thoughtful presents. Adelyn gave me a butterfly toe-ring. Ben gave me a gift card for a mani-pedi. And they both gave me some red roses. My aunt gave me a garden light. My parents gave me some new gardening gloves, some chocolate milk. I am a very blessed mommy.

Friday, April 8, 2011

March Recap

Can't believe that we're already in the second quarter of 2011. Crazy! Here's a recap of my resolutions:
R1 - Grandma's
I wrote a letter to one Grandma. Called the other. Also saw Gram for my birthday, but that doesn't count.
R2 - Walk
I really need to get out there some more. I managed to walk 6.17 miles for a total of 16.67 and 233.33 to go. Now that it's nicer out, this is a lot easier. I've been taking Adelyn with me. Only problem with that is that it is a lot of work for me as I put her in her carrier instead of her stroller so I have two hands free for Zoey.
R3 - Run
I'm slacking on this one as well. I ran 6 miles for a total of 18.5 so far. That leaves me with 131.5 left to go. Shouldn't be an issue, but I will be a busy lady this summer!
R4 - Cook
Made my goal this month. I made Spanish Rice Bake (which I thought should have been called Mexican Rice Bake) from Betty Crocker Healthy Grains cookbook. Chicken Barley Stew also from the same cookbook (Ben said I didn't need to bother with this recipe again). Creamy Chicken with home made biscuits from Real Simple. Yum! And Chipotle Beef Tacos also from Real Simple. I did count the biscuits as a recipe (since it is) in case you were wondering where the fifth recipe is. :)

Saturday, April 2, 2011

We're Going to Party Like... The Larson's!

At sort of the last minute, we booked a trip to Vancouver and Seattle. Two reasons: 1. For a "Dangerous Dinner" with some business people that Ben wanted to talk with; 2. Visit the Larson family.

We flew into Vancouver on Wednesday. The Larson's (Shelby, Kerry and Emma) drove up from Seattle. We took a very scenic route to our hotel (note to self: always remember that iPhones don't work in Canada and so an address, at the very least, should be taken with so you can find the hotel). But we found it and got ready for our dinner. Emma came to our room to babysit Adelyn. We got to the dinner hotel a bit early, so we joined some of the other people we were meeting in the bar for a drink. And then the Dangerous Dinner began!

A week prior, Yanik (the starter of Mavrick Adventures) decided to throw something together since he was going to be in town. So with just a week's notice, the chef at the hotel put together an awesome dining experience. I was very impressed! Here is what we ate:
1. Sea cucumber - I actually liked this pretty well. It was sliced and served with mushrooms.
2. Sea scallop - Had these before, so it wasn't too crazy. And it was a little awkward to eat. It was served with a micro green salad and it wasn't clear if they should be eaten together or not. I thought the salad overpowered the scallop.
3. Python soup - This was awesome! He wanted to get rattlesnake, but couldn't on such short notice. Apparently python is pretty mildly flavored and since this python was from Vietnam, he decided to Asian up the dish. The python was made into a cake (think crab cake) and put into a spicy Thai soup. Very tasty. Loved it.
4. Squab and foie gras - (aka pigeon and duck liver) This was ok. The foie gras was very slimy, but if you ate it with the squab, it was ok. Not my favorite course.
5. Alligator loin - This was also very good. It was prepared Cajun style. I'd had alligator before in New Orleans, so this wasn't new either, but definitely not on my typical menu.
6. Orange Desserts - This was very creative. There were probably six different bite-sized orange things including a gum drop, fruit roll-up and sorbet. Very tasty.
7. Marshmallow covered chocolate - Yum!

After dinner, we headed over to the Roxy - a night club type place. For a Wednesday night, it was pretty hopping. Very interesting people watching. Around 1:30 we called it a night.

The next morning, Adelyn was still on central time, so I got to get up at 5 with her after getting to bed after 2. Yawn! After her first nap of the day, everyone was still sleeping, so the two of us went to a local diner for some breakfast. Then we packed up and headed out of town with the Larson's.

On the way home we stopped by where they film some of the show "Psych." Haven't ever seen it, but I want to move to that town! Not even joking, the street along the water had an ice cream or gelato store every third store. Heaven!

When we got to the Larson's house, Ben and Shelby had to run to her home office to do a webinar. Adelyn and I got swarmed by the remaining Larson children (Carter, Avery, Anna, and Sophia). They were excited to see Adelyn and excited about my birthday. They had blown up a ton of balloons and had them all over the house for me. So sweet! Adelyn was a little overwhelmed with all the attention, but she did pretty well.

Friday was a school day, so as the kids went off to school, they all wished me a happy birthday. Once all but Sophia left (she has afternoon kindergarten) Ben and I made monkey bread for breakfast. I had been craving it for a long time. So yummy. For lunch (by this time Sophia is at school) we went to fast food (Taco Bell and Wendy's) because I wanted to pay for the person behind us. It was fun! I think the guy at the window thought we were nuts, but I had fun.

For dinner we had pizza and watched "Despicable Me." The pizza was great and the movie was funny and good. After that, Shelby told the kids that we couldn't do the piƱata because it would wake up Adelyn and besides, I wasn't very excited about it. Wha??? I quickly told her she was wrong (which was true, but even if it weren't, the kids had done that as a surprise for me and I would have played along for their sake). We came up with a solution: attach it to a broom handle with a dog leash and have Ben hold it and play in the driveway. It was so much fun!

The next morning we packed it up early and headed home. It was such a fun (albeit exhausting) trip!

Monday, March 14, 2011

St. Paul Adventure

Last Thursday, Adelyn and I made our way to St. Paul to go to a Chile exhibit with some moms and babies. We got there about 10 minutes before we were supposed to meet them, which was perfect because we had to park and get there. Well, I didn't realize that the boys hockey tournaments were going on. Parking was a mess! Every lot that I know of and passed by were full. Some lots were closed to event parking. I drove around for about 40 minutes before I found something. Luckily, it wasn't that far away from where I needed to be, and I could use the skyway system for most of the journey. I got Adelyn in her carrier and away we went!

Our destination was the Landmark Center. We quickly made our way through the skyway. I stopped to look at a map and a very nice lady stopped and asked if I needed help. She said that the Landmark Center wasn't connected by skyway, but if I go back to the building I just came through, go down to street level, it would just be across the street. Perfect! So, down four flights of stairs we went. When we got into the parking garage on street level, I realized that I no longer had Adelyn's blanket draped over my bag. Oops. So, back up four flight of stairs and retracing our steps through the skyway. Luckily, we didn't have to go too far to find it. Phew. Back down four flights of stairs...

By now it's about a quarter to two. I haven't been able to get a hold of the gal that organized the event, so I have no idea if there is anyone waiting for me. I stopped by the information desk to ask where the exhibit is and if they know of other people looking for people. Turns out, the exhibit wasn't there anymore! And no, they didn't know of anyone else looking for people. Hm. So I asked what else there was to do in the building. Turns out a lot! It was so cool! On the second floor there was a music museum. We made our way there and - ta da! met up with Jen! She had just gotten there too due to parking. So, we made our way through the floor. It was pretty cool. I learned a little about the evolution of the piano. Then Jen had to go. Since Adelyn and I didn't have anywhere to be, and that we worked so hard to get parking, we stayed. I'm glad we did! Outside some of the rooms on the various floors, there were posters telling about what used to be there and some other history things about Minnesota. I thought it was super cool. (For instance, I learned that it was after FBI agents were shot at a bunch that in 1933 they were allowed to carry handguns). In our wanderings, a lady stopped by to smile at Adelyn. She told us about the old court room that was on the fourth floor. So we stopped by that. It was so neat! I loved the woodwork and the marble fireplace. We stopped by her office when we were done to thank her and she invited us back for the free concerts they have every week. I think we might take her up on that!

The day wasn't anything like I was expecting, but I am very happy with how it turned out. I really had a good time (after the stress of parking was over, that is!).

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Road Trip

This past weekend Adelyn and my mom and I went on a road trip to Iowa. Why? You ask. Good question. It's Iowa. But really it's because our good friends Chuck (aka Charlie) and Michelle were having their little daughter, Alaina baptized. Ben was out of town, so we decided to make it into a girl's weekend.

Saturday morning we dropped Zoey off with my dad and picked up my mom and started our trip. Adelyn slept all the way to Clear Lake (about 2 hours). We stopped at Culver's for some lunch. Then it was back on the road. Adelyn fell asleep again and slept until we got to West Des Moines. We checked into our hotel and hit the pool! Adelyn wasn't too sure about the pool. Eventually she warmed up to it and relaxed enough to splash around.

After play time, Adelyn and I got ready for the mass and baptism. (My mom decided to just chill at the hotel). Adelyn did great during mass! I was a little worried, but there were enough distractions that she was pretty good. She LOVED Michelle's grandma who was sitting behind us. A lot of waves and smiles went to her. After mass was the baptism. Adelyn started to get a little antsy towards the end, but it was getting late for her. After the baptism, I dropped her off at the hotel to go to sleep. I headed over to Chuck and Michelle's place for dinner. There were a lot of people there, but I was able to chat a bit with both of them and their families. It was a lot of fun to see them.

The next morning we hit up the pool again. A lady came to swim laps and Adelyn did not appreciate that. I think it was the noise that it created. So, we didn't stay too long. We packed up and headed out after everyone got cleaned up. Adelyn must have been tired, because she slept all the way to Burnsville! What a good traveler!

Thursday, March 3, 2011

February Review

R1 - I wrote to both my grandmas. Seems so not impressive, but whatever.

R2 - Ben pointed out a major mistake in my resolution for walking Zoey - too easy to fail! He encouraged me to rework it so that I could make it. So, instead of walking her 5 times a week, my goal is to walk her 250 miles this year (5 times a week x 1 mile x 50 weeks - roughly what I did before Adelyn was born). So, that's my new goal. Unfortunately, this has caused me to slip back into laziness. I hope to get back into walking this month! And once it's warm again, I can take Adelyn with, which will make it easier to go on a walk. Anyway, I have walked 10.5 miles so far this year, leaving 239.5 to go.

R3 - I was able to run 6.5 miles. That brings the total to 12.5 miles, leaving 137.5 to go. I'm thinking about doing a tri in May, so that would help bring my total up as I train for it.

R4 - This is the easiest goal for me. This month I made:
Chocolate Stout Cake - recipe from Real Simple. It turned out pretty good even though I put all the chocolate in the cake instead of reserving some for the frosting. Oops. :)
Coconut Chicken with Mango Salsa - pretty tasty, although would like more of the coconut flavor to come through. I might experiment with marinating in coconut milk or something.
Asian Style Meat Loaves - This was yummy! I got this recipe from a friend. I know that I said before that I don't like meat loaf, but this was totally different.
Beef with Smokey Pepper Sauce - This was also pretty good. It tasted better as leftovers though after the flavors mingled a bit more. Recipe from BH&G Magazine.
Ginger Pork Sandwiches - This was ok... the flavors were good, but strangely, you couldn't really taste the pork. Ben thought you could make a mean vegetarian sandwich by just making it without the pork. Recipe from BH&G Magazine.
I also made Oatmeal Fudgy Bars, a recipe from Ben's mom. But Ben said I couldn't count it since he's had them before. Not sure if I agree with his logic, but I made 5 recipes without that one, so I guess we can go with that.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

What a Trooper!

Last week we went to Florida to watch the launch of the space shuttle Discovery. It was a very neat experience. We didn't do the best job of figuring out where to watch it from, so we weren't as close as we would have liked. But we did have a great view and had a lot of fun.

The way the flights worked out, we didn't leave until 7:20 at night. And then our flight was delayed. Adelyn usually goes to be bed between 6:30 and 7. But she did great! Smiled at the flight crew. And then snuggled in for some sleep. She woke up when we landed and stayed awake through the car ordeal...

We had reserved a car. When we got to the car rental counter, the guy told us that the manager was down there where the cars were and that if we acted mad, they would comp the gas and give us half off. I thought he was trying to give us an inside scoop on how to get the car cheaper, so I joked with him about it... then he said they only had vans left. Not just any vans, 15-passenger vans. Oh, ok. Got it. We are mad about that. So we went down to get the car. And we waited. And waited. Not sure where the vans were coming from, but we ended up waiting for over one and a half hours for it. Towards the end Adelyn started to get cranky, and so was I. But we got our sweet ride and left the airport.

In the great state of Florida, there are Steak n' Shakes. This was our one chance to go there. So we were "those" parents and brought Adelyn there at 2 am. She had napped in the van, so she was awake and alert.

Finally, we made it to the hotel. But with our bellies full of burger, fries and shakes, we were pretty happy. We were the last to check in at the hotel. Thankfully we had prepaid, so they didn't give our room away. But, they didn't have any cribs left. Adelyn woke up when we were unloading the van. We made a bed for her out of extra pillows and a blanket. She thought it was a lot of fun to crawl out of her bed. Finally, she went to sleep.

After what seemed like a short night, we were up and on our way. We went to a deli that is owned by a guy that Ben knows for lunch. SO GOOD! We had a nice chat with him and then we rushed out the door to make it to the coast.

We started hitting some traffic. We both agreed that we did not want to watch the shuttle out of our ride's windows because we couldn't find or get to a place. So, we picked a rough area of where we wanted to be and headed that way. We ended up about 20 miles away from the launch, near Cocoa Beach. We had a great view and there were very few people. But being 20 miles away, we didn't see nearly the detail as we would have liked. One cool thing about being that far away was that we saw the launch and just as it was disappearing from view, we heard it. It was neat to have that much delay. Crazy!

We had dinner plans with some people we met at this year's IM cruise. Dinner was set for 6:15 just about 10 miles north of where we were. We had about an hour to get there. No problem, right? Wrong! Traffic was terrible. It was literally stopped. People were getting out of their cars to visit with other people. People were turning their cars off. RV's were pulling onto the shoulders to wait it out... We got to the restaurant around 7:15. Our friends had an even shorter distance to go and we beat them. But finally we connected and had a nice (??) Thai dinner. The question marks is because the service was terrible. It was the waitress's first night. And because of the launch it was a bit crazy. Luckily for us, we had great company. And Adelyn did great. Towards the end she started to get fussy, but by then it was after 9. Oh, and she did great in the traffic too - slept the entire time.

Even with the stop for dinner, there was still some traffic issues. We took a couple of side roads to avoid some of it. Ben let me take a nap. I don't even know what time we got back to the hotel. I think it was after 11. Adelyn was so sound asleep in her car seat, that we decided just to leave her there. But in our room, of course.

The next morning we were up at 5:30 to make our flight back home. It was a whirlwind of a trip, but we had so much fun!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Adelyn's First Valentine's Day

Last Friday Adelyn and I started preparing for Valentine's Day by making cards for the grandparents. I thought they were pretty cute, course it helps that Adelyn was the main attraction. :) I took a picture of her and had those printed out. Then I traced her feet onto pink paper. I cut those out and taped them together to make a heart. Then I wrote, "Be my Valentine" and had her sign her name. Cute, right?

I had talked to Ben about a possible new tradition - I thought it would be fun to make Valentine's Day a family event, not just for us. I figured we already had our anniversary to celebrate our love, so why not have a celebration of family love on Valentine's Day. He wasn't entirely convinced that was a good idea. But turns out it didn't really matter, because poor Adelyn was sick! She has a cough and runny nose and a fever. Poor girl. She woke up around 6 but then basically slept until 11 or so. So, Ben and I took advantage of Grandma's offer to hold and snuggle our little sick girl so we could do lunch.

We decided to go to Crave. But when we got there, their ventilation system was broken, so their menu was very limited. So, we ended up at Redstone instead. We had the cornbread (can you go there and not get that?), Jerk fondue, chopped salad, fries and key lime pie for dessert. Everything was very good. After Adelyn went to bed, we watched a movie and had popcorn and ice cream (we were still full from our late and big lunch).

Aside from Adelyn being sick, it was a great day.

Monday, January 31, 2011

January Review

The first month of 2011 is basically over. And what a busy month! I owe a few posts about our adventures, but for now, here's how my resolutions are going.

R1: I wrote Grandma S once and went out with Grandma O twice. Both visits with GO were birthday related, but I figure the second time counts since I haven't ever gone to breakfast with her on her big day (because in the past I have been working).

R2: For the first half of the month, Zoey and I weren't together, so we didn't walk. When we got back home from our adventures, I had a nasty cough. And it was cold. Usually colds and the cold don't bother me, but this cough didn't appreciate cold air and would send me into a coughing fit. So, I waited until the cough was gone to start with our walks. That only left us the last week of the month to walk. I think she likes going on walks again.

R3: While on our cruise, I did run two days for a total of 4 miles (146 to go!). I would have run more often, but on port days I did plenty of swimming in the ocean and was too tired to do much more physical activity.

R4: I made 6 new recipes! I made:
Chicken Pasta Florentine - This was ok. Not very flavorful, but not bad either.
Boston Market Meatloaf - For meatloaf it was pretty good. I don't like meatloaf. Ben loves Boston Market's, so I gave it a try. While eating it, I was apologizing for never making meatloaf. Turns out Ben isn't really a fan either, but he just happens to like Boston Market's. So, I guess I don't have to make it again.
Spiced Halibut and Broccoli-Quinoa Pilaf - The fish was just ok. But the pilaf was great! Recipes were from RealSimple magazine.
Impossibly Good Chicken - I think that if it had a different name, I would have liked it better. It was good, but I was expecting awesome. Recipe from a Rachel Ray cookbook I have.
Hungarian Goulash - This is in the crock-pot for tonight. It's from my Forget It crock-pot cookbook.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

It's a New Year

After taking last year off from New Year Resolutions, I'm ready to have some again. In no particular order...

Resolution 1 - Be More Involved With My Grandmas
While making krumkake this year, I realized that I don't spend nearly enough time with my Grandma O. I see her at birthdays and holidays and krumkake making days, but other than that, I rarely see or talk with her. This is just plain silliness. And it has got to stop. Neither of them are getting any younger, and I really should take advantage of their time. The plan is to talk or get together with my GO once a month, not including family functions. Since my GS lives in MO I plan to write to her once a month and plan a road trip to visit her (probably in the summer so I don't need to worry about snow and ice).

Resolution 2 - Walk the Dog
Back before I had Adelyn, I walked Zoey every M-F before getting ready for work. I loved having some quiet alone time with her. And she loved sniffing everything. Since Adelyn was born, I have been a major slacker. Those of you who are moms can relate, I'm sure, to how much a baby can throw off your routine. My plan is to walk Zoey 5 times a week, except for when she or I are out of town.

Resolution 3 - Run!
Two years ago, my resolution was to run 100 miles. And I did it. Then I was too pregnant to run. I really want to get back into running. I like it. I thought about just setting my goal at 100 again since last year I didn't run much at all. But I feel like running should be easier now that I don't work outside of the home. ??? So, the plan is to run 150 miles.

Resolution 4 - Be Creative in the Kitchen
Two years ago I also had a goal of making 2 new recipes a month. It was fun to try out new dishes and not have the same thing all the time. This time, the plan is to make 5 new recipes a month (2 is just way too easy). As part of this, I plan to start using some of my cookbooks that I rarely use. The other day I was looking for a recipe and realized that I have a lot of cookbooks with great sounding recipes that I never even look at.

I feel like there was another one, but I can't think of what it was. So, we'll just go with this list.